Otero College Partners with Hope & Home Foster Care Agency for Holiday Toy Drive

La Junta, CO- Otero College is thrilled to announce its partnership with Hope & Home, a local foster care agency, to host this year’s Holiday Toy Drive. This heartwarming initiative aims to bring joy to local children in foster care by collecting unwrapped toys and gifts for boys and girls, ages newborn to 18.

Hope and Home trains and actively supports foster families who care for children who have been abused and neglected. These children have been removed from their birth homes and are given a stable and nurturing family to live with until it’s safe to go home again, or when that safety isn’t possible, a family to give them a forever home through adoption.

With over 3,400 children currently living with Colorado’s 2,471 certified kinship and foster families, the need for community support has never been greater.

The toys that are collected are then placed into a Christmas Store where foster parents are allowed to shop for the children and teens in their care. “Foster parents know each child’s likes/dislikes, favorite colors, and most wished-for items and can pick out items that they know kids will absolutely love! We’ve found that the store also is an amazing way to demonstrate to foster parents that there is a giant community of people who are supporting them and cheering them on in the work that they do caring for children,” said Myra Pacheco, Program Manager for the Pueblo and Arkansas Valley Region of Hope & Home.

Foster parents who have participated in past toy drives shared the profound impact these donations have had:

“The kids get so excited at Christmas. We had a little girl come into our home who had never had a Christmas tree before. To be able to watch through their eyes the magic of Christmas, is just such a gift.”

“Being able to come to Hope & Home and pick out brand new gifts for the kids is amazing. A child truly appreciates a toy, especially when they come from somewhere where they may not have had many toys, these gifts mean the world to these kids. Thank you so much for your generosity.”  

“Without all the donors for Hope & Home, we, as foster parents, wouldn’t be able to succeed the way we do. We are so grateful. There’s not enough thank yous to go around.”

How to Participate

• Grab a tag: Visit the tree in the McDivitt Center Gym to choose a tag with a specific age and gender.
• Drop off a gift: Return the unwrapped gift with the tag attached to the McDivitt Center Gym or the Welcome Center in Macdonald Hall by December 12th.
• Join us for Hoops for Hope Night: Bring an unwrapped gift to the home basketball game on December 6th and receive free admission; one ticket per gift will be given. The Rattlers play at 5 PM, followed by the Lady Rattlers at 7:30 PM. Any gifts dropped off prior to this day will receive a free admissions ticket to the game on December 6^th.

In addition to toys, donations of diapers, wipes, pajamas, gift bags, tissue paper, wrapping paper, and gift cards for teens are also welcome.

“We are so excited to bring the community together for this event,” said Malorie Weiss, Recruitment and Community Outreach Coordinator at Otero College. “This is a chance for all of us to make a difference and help create lasting memories for children who need it most.”

To learn more about Hope & Home and their mission, visit hopeandhome.org. For questions about the toy drive, contact Malorie Weiss at malorie.weis@otero.edu.

Let’s make this holiday season brighter for children in foster care. We hope to see you on campus with gifts in hand—together, we can make a difference!