ResourceWest Kicks Off Toy Chest Distribution

Call it a pre-Christmas.

Hopkins and other west metro communities spent weeks donating dolls, trucks, games and other presents for ResourceWest's Toy Chest. On Thursday, the day finally arrived when volunteers could start helping families pick out the perfect gift for their children.

Toy Chest provides new gifts to low-income children in Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Shorewood and Woodland. For each child, families pick a large toy worth more than $20, a small toy between $5 and $15 and a stocking stuffer. 

The program provided gifts to more than 1,000 children from more than 700 families last year, and all signs are that those numbers will grow in 2010.

Visits to the Toy Chest will continue through Wednesday.