The 2026 Toys for Tots campaign kicks off in the DFW metroplex

Well, the holidays are quickly approaching, and that means the Marines' Toys for Tots program is ramping up. And this morning, there's a big challenge going out from Fort Worth Mayor Maddie Parker. Fox 4's Alex Boye joins us live from City Hall. Hey, Alex. Hey, guys. Good morning. You can certainly hear the energy and feel the energy. Take a look and say good morning to all of these fine folks out here celebrating the kickoff for the North Texas Toys for Tots program that is very near and dear to us here at Fox 4 News. You know, I want to bring over Staff Sergeant here to talk a little bit about the families that we're going to help this year. Good morning, Staff Sergeant. Absolutely, sir. We're helping a lot of the lower-income families, those in need or just hardships, just so we can help them out. Right now, we've already had about 52,000 people reach out, and we're hoping to get much more. Absolutely, and it's an exciting time, of course, nonetheless. And we have Mike here with the Foundation for Toys for Tots. Mike, good morning to you. Hey, good morning, sir. Tell me a little bit about what you all are kind of doing on a national level, because we know there are a lot of kids in need. Yeah, so we have about 720 locations across the nation. And right now, 1 October was a kickoff. And everywhere, a lot of counties across the nation, they're doing just this. They're trying to raise awareness. They're trying to raise toys and raise money to reach children in need. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I want to bring in the guy himself who, despite the warm weather. Santa, how are we feeling today on this hot day? It's pretty warm. Cold front's coming in, though, I'm told by my meteorologist. Wasn't meant for Texas weather. No, you are not, but we appreciate you being here today for this kickoff event. You know, Santa, talk about the needs for these kids. We know we need unwrapped toys for these kiddos. Toys for Tots is a great organization. They get all these toys for the kids, and Christmas is about kids. Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate your time this morning. Staff Sergeant, I want to come back to you a minute and talk about the kind of things we're looking for for these children. We're looking for just any type of new or just well an unused toy that we can get from bikes, footballs, puzzles, books even. Anything that we can get our hands on that is in somewhat good condition, we can make sure that we can just reach as many people as possible. And kids of all ages. Absolutely. We're actually helping out from newborns all the way up to 16 this year. Yeah, absolutely. How exciting is it for you, Mike, quickly to kind of see the turnout this morning, the enthusiasm for this kickoff event? This is awesome and this is really what it's all about. When people think Marines are advertised, they normally think it's about the Marines, but no. This is a community action program, and this is what it takes to reach children in need. Last year, the program overall pushed out about 24 million toys to nearly 11 million children, and this is what it takes to reach those numbers. That's right. Let's exceed those expectations this year. Appreciate you all for being here. Appreciate you, Santa, for traveling from the North Pole. Everybody, we want to send this off to the show, to our anchors back there, wrapping it up here at Fort Worth City Hall. Let's make this event a good one. Take a listen, guys, as we send it back to the studio right here. Exciting. That is so great. I know it. The drum line and the cheerleaders and the Marines, everybody out there, having a great time. Alex, getting funky there with the music. Yes. I can't play the drums like Shannon. Oh, that's true. You're doing a great job, Alex. I appreciate the enthusiasm. He saw what he He was filling in on Good Day this week. He's like, oh, now I'm going out to the Toys for Tots. And I told him yesterday, I said, it's a party out there. Just get ready. There are a lot of people. There's a lot going on. I was like, you pretty much just stand there, stick out the mic, and people will talk and cheer and perform. So always a good time with the Toys for Tots. Alex, thanks. It's 9:36.