Washington teen keeps Toys for Tots collection tradition going
Left and middle: Trinity High School student Colby Jeffrey has held an annual Toys for Tots drive since he was in elementary school. Courtesy Kristin Bergman.
Colby Jeffrey holds an annual Toys for Tots drive.
Right: Trinity High School student Colby Jeffrey, 14, is preparing for his annual ninth annual Toys for Tots Fill the Boxtruck toy drive on Dec. 11 at Krispy Kreme at Trinity Pointe. Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Colby Jeffrey was five years old when he first heard about the Toys for Tots program while sitting in a classroom at Trinity East Elementary School.
Alarmed at other children not having toys at Christmas, Colby asked his parents if he could hold a toy drive and stuff his parents’ box truck.
The stuff-the-truck toy drive, held in 2014 in the parking lot of a restaurant in Meadow Lands, was a success.
Nearly a decade later, Colby’s fill-the-box truck initiative for Toys for Tots continues.
On Dec. 11, in the Krispy Kreme parking lot at Trinity Point in Washington from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Colby, 14, now a ninth-grader at Trinity High School, will hold his ninth toy drive for Toys for Tots.
Donors are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to help Colby fill the box truck.
“I wanted to do it because I know there are kids who don’t get presents at Christmas, and there are parents who struggle getting their kids presents, and this helps out a lot,” said Colby.
Colby’s mother, Kristin Bergman, didn’t think her son’s toy drive would go past the first year.
“But I’m not surprised he’s still doing this. He has a kind and caring heart. He’s been caring ever since he was little,” said Bergman. “He has always wanted to help others.”
Over the years, since Colby’s parents got rid of their box truck, friends have pitched in to make sure Colby could continue his mission.
Kristin and Colby’s dad, Craig Jeffrey, rented a U-Haul truck until Brenda and Skylar Deems of Washington loaned Colby their box truck. When the Deems’ sold their truck, they made a donation that enabled Colby to rent a truck.
“The community is amazing. Colby says often that he doesn’t like to get the recognition because it’s the community, friends and strangers, who step up to the plate,” said Kristin.
The first year, Colby’s goal was to collect 600 toys, which he exceeded as people showed up at the parking lot with gifts and monetary donations. He has managed to fill the truck each year since.
“There are no words to describe the amount of pride his father and I have for him. I’m humbled,” said Kristin. “I learned more from him about kindness and caring than I have in my whole life. I feel so blessed that he is the person he is.”
Michael Pallesco, Toys for Tots coordinator for Washington and Greene counties, said Colby has been a champion for nearly as long as Pallesco has been coordinator – a role he assumed in 2013 after his father, Ralph Pallesco, passed away.
“It couldn’t go any smoother. Colby’s got it down. He knows what he’s doing,” said Pallesco. “Rain or shine, he gets out there, and it has made a big impact.”