Toys For Tots: How To Help On The North Shore — But Hurry

DANVERS — While you're checking off holiday gifts for family members, don't forget the kids who aren't on anyone's shopping list and pick up some items for the Toys for Tots campaigns on the North Shore.

Sponsored by the Marine Corps Reserves, Toys for Tots is organized locally on the North Shore by multiple fire departments and the Beverly Veterans Affairs office.

Last year in Middlesex and Essex counties, 120,527 toys were distributed to 80,172 children who might not otherwise have gotten any Christmas gifts. Nationally, about 625 million toys were handed out to 291 million kids.

Besides dropping off new, unwrapped toys at several drop-off locations, people who want to support the campaign can also donate online. Here's what you need to know on the North Shore:

Beverly Veterans Services, 93 Herrick Street

Danvers Fire Department, 64 High Street, deadline is Dec. 9

Salem Fire Department, 48 Lafayette Street

Good Feet Store, 136 Andover Street, Danvers

Brookline Bank, 107 High Street, Danvers

Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn Street, Peabody

Bertolino Foods, 5 5th Street, Peabody

The Cauldron Black, 65 Wharf Street, Salem

RightSPINE, Chiropractic, 70 New Ocean Street, Swampscott\

The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is an IRS-recognized nonprofit public charity created in 1991. The foundation, created in 1991, uses 97 percent of every donation to buy toys for children in need.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)