Philadelphia, PA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/02/2020 --Gary Barbera drove into the Holiday Season earlier than usual to put focus on Toys for Tots when Philadelphia's Tallest Santa landed on the Gary Barbera's on the Boulevard iconic rooftop at the end of October. "We saw firsthand how COVID increased food insecurity and how hunger never rests. Our partnerships with Philabundance, distributing food with Share Food Program, and our Gary Barbera holiday Turkey community distribution continued albeit in a different way this season," said Barbera. We realized early that the need for food would take precedence and COVID would slow down toy collections for many reasons. We can't do everything but we can do what we can. Our annual Barbera Cares Toy for Tots Collection changed to monetary donations in honor of our clients , Every Vehicle on the Lot Helps Support Toys For Tots. The Barbera Cares donations will be earmarked so that families and children in our local area will be the beneficiaries. RADIO.com KYW 1060am and 103.9 fm reports

Bucks County Toys for Tots braces for slower year amid pandemic struggles

For Report in its entirety:
https://www.radio.com/kywnewsradio/news/local/bucks-toys-for-tots-braces-for-slower-year-due-to-covid-19

Charlotte Reese reported for KYW
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Santa's workshop for many kids is Toys for Tots, but due to the pandemic this year, the coordinator for the Bucks County campaign worries there won't be as much cheer as years past.

In a typical year, the Bucks County campaign collects about 18,000 toys, plus what the Toys for Tots Foundation buys to make up the difference.

"My guess is those numbers are going to be much lower this year," predicted coordinator Kevin Miller. "I would expect that we're probably going to lose at least a third of our donations." Miller, a Marine Corps veteran, said he understands the struggles wrought by the pandemic but wants to remind people that the campaign is still going on.

"We're trying to run it as close to normal as possible and we are desperately going to need the support of the community in the way of donations," he said. Those can include toys and monetary gifts. Even securing storage space was somewhat difficult this year, according to Miller.

"So many businesses and schools and health care (providers) are using all of these mobile storage units on site," he said. "In previous years, we were actually in a small corner of a church basement which was just not going to be conducive with everything that's going on."

To learn more about Barbera Brands:
www.barberasautoland.com
careers.garybarberagroup.com
www.garybarberacares.org
www.barberabear.com

About Barbera Cares Programs© and the Barbera Bear™
Gary Barbera's on the Boulevard is enhanced by our 3 Decades of Barbera Cares Programs of community service and philanthropy and our famous Barbera Bear. We are passionate about our Hometown Heroes who we feature on our Environmentally Friendly Green UP & Clean UP Solar Powered Recycling Kiosks- SRK's. Our PSA's focus on Distracted Driving Don't Text and Drive Displays and Keeping the Boulevard Safe Collaborations, Philabundance, AACR- American Association for Cancer Research, Roxborough and NE Family YMCA's. 1000's of Book Bags, Turkeys, Food Boxes, Laptops and Winter Coats have been hand delivered to underserved neighborhoods like Strawberry Mansion. Proud Inaugural partner of Governor Edward G. Rendell's Adopt-A-Highway state wide clean up initiative from the ground up and we champion Philly's finest and our Veteran's for their service and sacrifice. The Barbera Bear is EVERYWHERE! Representing our Barbera Brands leading parades, bringing smiles for miles on the faces of children and entertaining while contributing to our communities.