CLINTON, Iowa — One Clinton man is making kids' Christmas wishes come true.
Scott for Tots, a Clinton group that holds a yearly holiday toy drive, put on its fifth-annual event on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Families who applied and were chosen got the chance to walk around and pick out Christmas gifts for kids.
"It gets a little easier each year, but it gets a little bigger each year," Scott for Tots founder Scott Stubblefield said.
This year, the group served more than 1,000 children. Recipients said they're grateful for Scott for Tots.
"We have six kids and so that can be kind of trying during Christmas time," Katie Caudill said. "And he has made it so all of our kids are happy on Christmas."
"A win-win," Shavona Brown said. "I don't have to feel like a bad parent for not having enough money to sponsor Christmas and my children don't have to miss out on a wonderful day."
Organizers said 40 volunteers helped out; from check-in to helping families pick out presents.
"It's one time a year that they may get a tablet, or earbuds or gaming headset or something like that something that the parents generally can't afford," Stubblefield said. "Because they're expensive and through donations of the community, I mean, we're able to do that."
Several local organizations donated toys and cash donations. Scott for Tots itself spent around $10,000 on gifts.
"Donations were a little down as far as physical donations, but we did get some good cash donations to where we could go out and buy some items," Stubblefield said.
Scott Stubblefield started the organization after Toys for Tots left Clinton in 2018.
More From News 8
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel