For many kids, Christmas Day is one of the most exciting days of the year. Every child looks forward to getting to open presents and see all the toys they got. 

But some children aren’t as fortunate to have presents waiting for them under the tree when they wake up. Luckily, there are organizations that try to help these children. 

Math teacher Richard Ralston is the founder of one of these organizations, Abbey’s Toy Drive, which has been active since 2012.  

Ralston started the toy drive after his first daughter, Abbey, died before her first Christmas. 

“We got onto social media and started to donate to charity, kind of as a memoriam of our daughter, and eventually it turned into something,” Ralston said. 

The organizations works with Christ the Redeemer Church in Canonsburg and accepts donations from local business partners and Baldwin High School faculty members. The group also collects donations and buys toys for needy kids. 

“It’s a really nice organization and we try to get as many people involved as we can, whether it’s over social media or just the faculty here at school,” Ralston said.

This year the toy drive is collecting for 450 kids. They have 1,100 toys so far. 

The donation starts every year in the middle of November and continues through the third week of December, just in time for Christmas.