Operation Homefront Hoping To Make Christmas Brighter For Military Families

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Tables covered with toys, stuffed animals, coloring books and games. It's a room would that would make any child smile, and that's whole idea.

The toy drive was put together by Operation Homefront, a group working to make life a little easier for military families.

"A huge toll has been taken on the military family over the last decade worth of fighting, and the kids often get overlooked and every time a soldier deploys, it's terrible on the child," said Daniel Blevins, of Operation Homefront.

The holidays can be especially stressful for military kids, so volunteers with Operation Homefront wanted to make a difference.

"We have crafts and activities in the back, some snacks for them, and then the parents can come in the back room, we have more high-end toys that they can pick out and take home and put under the tree," said Blevins.

The kids also got to pick out stocking stuffers.

A lot of the toys and other goodies came from donations from Dollar Tree customers. Nationally, they collected more than 7.8 million toys to hand out to military children.

"It's one of the best feelings in the world when you can see the joy on the little kid's face," Blevins said.

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