Christmas is the time for giving, and Windsor High School adds on to the cheer and joy of the holiday season by having the DECA Toy Drive every year. The Toy Drive helps families from all over the Windsor community, including at least 60 kids every year.

Teacher Wayne Montgomery, Windsor’s own Santa Clause, began the DECA Toy Drive in 2010.

The drive was started during a time that many families were hurting financially, and the school felt that people needed help, especially around the holidays.

Montgomery said, “That’s part of the reason I started it all because we didn’t have a lot of money growing up and we needed help ourselves. So it means a lot to me, having been in that situation myself. I don’t think any kid should go without during this time of year.”

Decorating for the drive takes up around 10-12 hours. They put 7-8 hours of work into it each week, and they’ve gotten better each year. The drive itself is three weeks long. Overall, the whole toy drive has up to 50 hours put into it each year.

“It is time consuming, but it’s all worth it. I see a lot of the good that the students do. You get a lot of students donating gifts and or money for gifts,” Montgomery said.

This year’s drive has already had over 100 kids that have donated gifts. The drive lasts until December 18, the last Tuesday of the semester to bring in gifts. The drive usually brings in $4000, ranging between 500-700 toys.

Montgomery said, “The last few years I think it’s been more focused on the quality of the toys rather than quantity. Students and teachers have been going out and getting $10-$15 toys, and they’re really focusing on hitting the wish list.”