Toy Drive and NJROTC Rally Community at WinterFest Parade
Northern New Mexico Toy Drive partnered with Los Alamos High School NJROTC Topper Company to collect new unwrapped toys during the WinterFest Light Parade on Central Avenue on December 4, 2025. The effort advances the drive's 2025 goal of providing holiday gifts to 10,000 children across Northern New Mexico and highlights local gaps in social support that civic leaders may need to address.
On December 4, community volunteers and Los Alamos High School NJROTC cadets walked Central Avenue as part of the WinterFest Light Parade collecting new unwrapped toys for the Northern New Mexico Toy Drive. Cadets known as elf cadets accompanied a sleigh themed float and accepted donations directly from parade spectators, turning a seasonal celebration into a distributed point of collection for the drive's regional campaign.
Organizers say donations gathered at community events help the drive meet a stated 2025 target of providing gifts to 10,000 children across Northern New Mexico. The drive coordinates with schools, nonprofits, tribal communities, and social service organizations to match donated gifts to specific wish lists submitted by children and families. That coordination is central to the program's aim of ensuring that gifts reach children with particular needs and preferences, and to closing gaps that can emerge when households rely solely on public assistance during the holiday season.
Los Alamos High School NJROTC also ran a Teen Drive on campus that featured a class competition to collect gifts for older teenagers, a demographic that often receives fewer age appropriate donations. The school sponsored the campus effort in tandem with the parade collection, channeling student participation into targeted donations. The two efforts together illustrate how educational institutions can act as hubs of civic engagement while providing logistical support to regional nonprofit operations.
The partnership between a regional nonprofit and a high school military training unit underscores the role of local institutions in supplementing social services. Reliance on charitable drives to meet holiday needs can signal shortfalls in public safety net coverage, a point that elected officials and county administrators may weigh when setting budgets and support programs for families in need. For residents, the event demonstrated tangible ways to participate in community support, from donating at public celebrations to engaging with school led drives.
For more information contact Northern New Mexico Toy Drive or Los Alamos High School NJROTC about donation opportunities and follow up on distribution plans for the 2025 campaign.
