Toy Collection to Begin Friday

The seventh annual “Spark of Love” toy drive will begin accepting toys for less fortunate children Friday.

Ventura County’s 31 fire stations, as well as Sav-on drugstores and Subway sandwich shops, will serve as collection points.

Last year, the county Fire Department collected nearly 16,000 toys.

“We’re hopeful that this year the numbers will be even bigger,” said Joe Luna, the department’s public information officer.

Almost a third of the previously collected toys came through the “Holiday Toy Express” train that visited Metrolink stations to pick up toys.

This year, the train, to be decorated with 30,000 twinkling lights, will feature a life-size holiday display on a flatbed truck. At each station, Santa Claus and his helpers will jump onto the platform and put on a skit for spectators.

“It’s really an awesome sight seeing the train come up the tracks,” Luna said.

Toys are turned over to the county’s Health Services Agency for distribution.

The train will pull into Ventura County on Dec. 12 at the following stations: Simi Valley at 5:50 p.m.; Moorpark at 6:40 p.m.; Camarillo at 7:30 p.m.; and Oxnard at 8:10 p.m.

Visitors are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy or a piece of sports equipment to support the drive.