Local toy drive transitions to Operation Christmas Wish

The Ozark County Toy Drive will see some changes this year as sisterly-duo Karla Smith and Kris Ledbetter take the helm of the annual program that has put Christmas gifts under the tree and smiles on children’s faces in Ozark County on Christmas morning for nearly 60 years. 

This year’s event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the First Baptist Church’s event center on Third Street in Gainesville. 

Karla and Kris are filling the shoes left empty by former organizer-extraordinaire Nancy Walker, who helped with the program since its very first event in 1965, when used toys were wrapped in old newspaper and handed out to those in need by the Young Homemaker’s Club in the courthouse basement. The event grew over the years, and more recent toy drives have provided Christmas gifts for an average of 250 to 350 Ozark County families each year. 

After six decades, Nancy decided it was time to pass the torch to the next generation of Santa’s elves. “I won’t say I’m old, but I am getting older. I think it’s time I let someone else lead the event. I’ve just kind of flew by the seat of my pants all these years, but my pants are getting kind of ragged,” Walker told the Times last year after announcing her toy drive retirement.

The true spirit of the event, which features big hearts and many helping hands, will continue as it always has, but there will be some changes for this year’s event. 

The name of the event will transition from the Ozark County Toy Drive to Ozark County Operation Christmas Wish. 

The format will also change. In the past, those wishing to receive gifts for their children at the Ozark County Toy Drive have shown up on the morning of the event and waited their turn to enter a room filled with toys and gifts that had been purchased prior to the event. The parents or other family members chose the gifts they believed were best suited for their children, which were then wrapped by volunteers for placement under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. 

This year’s event will instead be a hybrid model of the traditional toy drive and a former Angel Tree program that Karla helped organize for many years when she worked with the Department of Family Services in Gainesville.

Those wishing to participate in the toy drive this year are asked to fill out a form and return it by Nov. 8. The form asks for a parent name, a phone number that organizers can text to ask questions about the gift, the child’s age and one Christmas gift wish for the child. Gift wish items should be as specific as possible and should be priced $40 or below to ensure all children can receive their own very special gift. If the gift item is clothing, sizing is requested too. The form also asks for sock sizes for the child. 

Forms are available now at the Ozark County Times office or at the Division of Family Services office in Gainesville. The deadline to turn forms in is Nov. 8. Families who return forms past that date will not be guaranteed a gift as part of the program. 

“The overall purpose of the event is intentional gift giving and to ensure that kids receive at least one gift they desire,” Karla told the Times. “We want each child to have a gift they have asked for - and for parents to be able to have that gift for them.”

Karla says they will have a few gifts on hand for those who are not aware of the format change this year, but it is their hope that by next year the program will transition to where all recipients are able to fill out a form to request a specific special gift. 

For more information about the program and signing a child up, or for information on how to financially support the program, contact Karla Smith at 417-683-7489 or karlasmith33@hotmail.com.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423