Virginia girl holds Christmas toy drive: 'It was real exciting'

GLOUCESTER, Va. -- Several parents got Christmas gifts for their children Tuesday thanks to 12-year-old Charlotte Kirby.

WTKR introduced viewers to Kirby last month. She set up her first toy drive in Gloucester after moving to the area from West Virginia, where she organized seven annual toy drives there.

Her mother told us then that Kirby wanted to help needy children since she was four. She came up with different ideas to provide for them until eventually coming up with the idea of a toy drive.

"It was real exciting,” Kirby told WTKR on Tuesday, the day of the toy giveaway.

The drives were so successful in her former home state that she received a Jefferson Award and a congratulatory letter from West Virginia’s former governor.

She, her mother and volunteers set up tables with the donated toys at the Susanna Wesley United Methodist Church. The toys were gathered over a period of a month.

Parents came in and browsed the toys to pick out for their children. Anyone was welcome regardless of income, and it was all done while still adhering to social distancing and COVID-19 guidelines.

“We could see so many people saying how touched they were with being able to experience [this],” Kirby said. “Especially since COVID hit hard, there are a lot unemployed."

They had extra toys left over that were then donated to other local organizations. Kirby hinted of another toy drive next year.