A drive to collect toys for children in need has collected more than 2,000 gifts.

Now the Toys for Tots gifts have been delivered to the Coalition for the Protection of Children for distribution at its Christmas party.

Sarah Faiella, the Toys for Tots co-organiser, said: “The generosity of Bermudians never ceases to amaze me and it’s this initiative that shows us how much our people really care about our children.”

Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty realtor Ms Faiella, who organised the annual collection with colleague Laura Bolton, was speaking after three truck loads of toys were picked up from the firm’s offices in Hamilton’s Par-la-Ville Road. This is the twelth year the firm has spearheaded the drive and Ms Faiella said that is had “surpassed expectations”.

The toys — dropped off at businesses and other organisations across the Island — were picked up from Coldwell Banker by trucker Joe Vieira.

Ms Faiella added: “We would like to extend a big thank you to the Bermudian community — to those individuals who donated, to those companies that worked so hard to provide a variety of wonderful gifts and to our drop-off locations for supporting the initiatives.

“It seems as if the campaign gets more and more support every year. We always have more people reaching out to support each year so I think we will be thinking about new ways that we can get more people involved in the future.”

Throughout the collection period, all gifts were displayed in the Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty reception window and the entire Coldwell Banker team participated with loading the trucks.

The campaign collects new toys and aims to support at least 500 children, ranging in age from newborn to 16, each year. Any toys not given away by the Coalition are shared with other local charities.

Coldwell Banker employee Ed Williams said: “We all get really excited about it — everyone in the company gets behind it. “We have had new companies join this year, and it’s great to see it catching on on a corporate level.”

The Toys for Tots campaign was started in Bermuda in 2002 by Coldwell Banker worker Kim Webb.

Ms Faiella would like to extend special thank you to Joe Vieira Trucking, Best Shipping, Peter Faiella of Sun Sea Services, KPMG, Markel, Amlin, Marshall Diel & Myer, Warwick Academy, Somersfield Academy, Montpelier Re, BF&M, St Marks Church, Conyers Dill & Pearman, and LifeThyme CrossFit.