LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Children impacted by the Clayton fire got a helping of Christmas cheer on Sunday thanks to the efforts of a group of friends who began a toy drive this summer.
On Sunday at the Brick Hall in Lower Lake, the Clayton Fire Toy Drive distributed presents to 31 families and more than 50 children impacted by the August fire, according to Christian Villalobos, one of the toy drive's organizers.
Villalobos said each child received a stocking full of goodies and specific toys they had wished for, which had been collected thanks to the generosity of the community over the last two months.
The toy drive crew is comprised of a group of friends involved with the Lake's List Facebook group. The crew included Christian Villalobos, Joleen Nichols, Denise Villalobos, Annabeth Villalobos, Cameron Nicholas, James Ortega, Tom Azevedo and Samantha Ambrecht.
Nichols said they began by challenging Lake's List's 26,000 members to donate to the Rotary Club of Clear Lake at the Safeway register. They each donated $25 and tagged five friends and challenged members to do the same.
They began brainstorming about other ways to help, and one night in late August, Nichols said she had mentioned that it would be cool if they could hold a toy drive for the Clayton fire children. “And Christian basically said, 'Let's do it!'”
All the other members also were on board, and so the work began, starting with the first planning meeting on Sept. 4. Nichols said they began making fliers and registration forms, compiling a list of needs and getting the word out.
They collected toys, clothes and other items the children requested from Oct. 17 to Dec. 12, with six dropoff points around the county. Nichols said packages also were mailed from Hawaii, Sacramento, Stockton and Southern California.
The result was a mountain of gifts. While Nichols said they didn't count every item they received, the estimated value of toy donations came to about $8,000, with an additional $1,200 in gift cards. They also received cash donations from groups like the Rotary Club of Clear Lake.
“We were so blown away,” she said.
On Sunday, it was time for handing out the gifts. Nichols said the first family arrived at around 9:45 a.m., and the distribution continued until about 12:30 p.m., with the group also delivering the gifts to a few families.
Villalobos said families picked up their specific toys, stockings, new blankets donated from the community of Napa, toys from the Future Farmers of America of Petaluma and distributed by FFA of Lower Lake, and enjoyed refreshments and Christmas music.
“Sunday was a day full of community love and magic,” and families left the Brick Hall “with teary eyes, smiles, and gratitude,” he said.
It was a “touching day,” said Nichols, and an example of the incredible generosity of Lake County's residents. She said one man told the group on Sunday that if they lived in a big city he couldn't imagine such an effort happening, “but our little community is our family and takes care of its own.”
Villalobos said the Lake's List team offered its thanks to the organizations and businesses that contributed to the toy drive in many different ways, including Stone Fire Pizza Co., Carlé Continuation High School, Konocti Education Center, Mendo Mill of Lakeport, Spruce Grove Storage in Lower Lake, Lake County Fire Protection District, Clearlake Paper Supply, Lakeview Market in Lucerne, Kingdom Games in Lakeport, Funtopia Toys in Middletown, Riviera Foods, CSS of Clearlake, Ritcher Construction, Rotary Club of Clear Lake, Legacy High School of Napa, Ca., Napa teacher Michelle McMaster, the community of Napa, Lower Lake Fire Station, Konocti Unified School District youth services coordinator, Dave Hubbard with Toys for Tots, FFA of Lower Lake and Petaluma.
He said it was a community effort and a huge success.
Nichols added that she couldn't believe their very first endeavor was so successful, calling it a “terrifying and amazing experience.”
As for any future projects, Nichols said they are looking at other ways of helping families in need at the holidays.
“We were honored to do this and to be able to give back to this community,” and to make the holidays brighter for the families who lost so much, she said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.