The items collected during TODAY Show's Toy Drive are often given to families who cannot afford to buy presents, so that the children can open a gift that's given to them by a loved one, not a charity. These items reach millions of kids in all 50 states.

You can be part of making this year's toy drive the most successful ever by donating online at Amazon.com/TODAY.

Dorcas House

Each week, we spotlighted a specific charity that has benefited in the past from your generous donations in person and online. This week, we are showcasing Dorcas House of the Women's Ministry of the Union Rescue Mission in Little Rock, Ark. Here's a little more information about them and the amazing work they do providing help and shelter for battered women and their children who are needy and/or homeless:

The Dorcas House is the women’s ministry of the Union Rescue Mission. The Union Rescue Mission began in Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1940s as a ministry for homeless men. In the early 1960s they opened the Dorcas House to provide help for homeless women. After years of providing services for women they began to realize that many of the women were homeless because of domestic violence and so they implemented a Domestic Violence Program. In 1993 the present facility was built through donations from our community and Dorcas House became the largest Domestic Violence Shelter in Arkansas. Several years ago we began to see the need in our community for women of low income to have access to an inpatient Drug and Alcohol Recovery Program and the program opened in October of 2009.

Each of our programs are nine months long and include intensive classes on Domestic Violence, Parenting, Sexual Abuse Recovery, 12 Steps, Career Readiness, Bible Studies and one-on-one counseling with a licensed therapist on a weekly basis. Counseling is also provided for the children. When the women graduate from our program they can continue to reside in our facilities and save money towards their independence or they may choose to stay with us and go to college. When they are ready to move out we assist them with any furniture or household appliances, etc, that have been donated. We also continue to help with birthday and Christmas presents for their children.

The mission of The Dorcas House is to provide battered women and their children who are needy and/or homeless, a secure environment in which to recover emotionally, physically and spiritually, from domestic violence and other problems.  At the Dorcas House we strive to empower women to regain their independence and to establish a safe and violence-free home life for themselves and for their children. We also offer women who are battling addiction to drugs or alcohol a place to find healing, receive counseling and to rebuild their lives.

Dorcas House

We always endeavor to make sure that the children who live at the Dorcas House know that they are loved and cared for. This is especially important during the Christmas season. We also make toys available to needy children in the Little Rock community as we have the means to. We ask the parents to provide a letter from the Department of Human Services of other service agencies stating that they are in need of assistance for their children. We usually provide gifts for about eighty to one hundred children within our community.

The donations that we receive from the TODAY Show Toy Drive allow us to provide gifts for MANY more children in our community and the women and children who reside in the Dorcas House. The type of gifts and toys we receive far exceeds what we are normally given. (We get so excited every time a box arrives!!!) Those who have the greatest need in our community are provided for by the generosity of all of you who give through the TODAY Show Toy Drive. It is difficult to express how grateful we are for your help in making Christmas a happy time for our women and children.

Dorcas VanGilst
Director of Women’s Ministries
Of Domestic Violence

More: Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Operation Home Front

Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Sociedad Latina

Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Domestic Violence Intervention Services

Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Portland Homeless Family Solutions

TODAY launches it's 18th Annual Toy and Gift Drive

The items collected during TODAY Show's Toy Drive are often given to families who cannot afford to buy presents, so that the children can open a gift that's given to them by a loved one, not a charity. These items reach millions of kids in all 50 states.

You can be part of making this year's toy drive the most successful ever by donating online at Amazon.com/TODAY.

Each week, we will spotlight a specific charity that has benefited in the past from your generous donations in person and online. This week, we are showcasing Operation Home Front in San Antonio, TX. Here's a little more information about them and the amazing work they do helping families of our service members and wounded warriors:

Operation Home Front

Operation Homefront (OH), headquartered in San Antonio, TX,  was established in February 2002. OH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors. We fulfill our mission through the delivery of:

• Emergency Financial Assistance.  This program makes payments to forestall eviction or foreclosure as well as helps to pay a military family’s unexpected expenses such as, car repair, home repair, urgent child care, emergency food and moving expenses.
• Wounded Warrior Transitional Family Housing.  We have a multi-family housing development and units in an apartment high-rise that are used as transitional housing for wounded warriors and their families.  The complex in San Antonio has 19 units; and we have 14 units in an apartment building in the Washington, DC metro area.  All of our housing units have been fully-occupied since their opening.
• Morale Assistance.  The morale program delivers clothing, school supplies, toys, furniture, holiday food baskets, care packages and computers – Back To School Brigade, Holiday Toy Drive and many more special chapter events.
• Web Community.  We host, Operation Homefront Online, the largest online community of military spouses in the country with an average of more than 1.5 million page views per month.

 Each year, Operation Homefront receives countless emails from military families during the Holiday Season asking for help.  At a time when families should be together, many are apart and the spouses left behind are often having financial difficulties. The TODAY Toy Drive’s gesture of providing gifts for military children can go a long way to make a very difficult time a little bit easier. Operation Homefront and their 25 chapters across the country distribute the toys to children whose parent(s) are the lowest paid members of the military. No other organization provides the level and scope of services Operation Homefront provides to its client base -- the lowest-ranking enlisted personnel and their families. We thank TODAY and its viewers for helping those families.

Marco Impeduglia
Director of In-Kind Relations
Operation Homefront

More: Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Sociedad Latina

Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Domestic Violence Intervention Services

Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Portland Homeless Family Solutions

TODAY launches it's 18th Annual Toy and Gift Drive

TODAY

Updated on 12/12: The TODAY Toy Drive's celebrity elves have been busy picking up hundreds of toys for needy families each morning on the plaza. Find out more details about the toy drive here.

If you're in New York City next week, please consider stopping by Rockefeller Plaza around 8 a.m. and donating to our cause. Just look for the crowd outside Studio 1A: You can't miss us!

Here's the lineup of celebrities who will collect toys next week:

• Monday: Michelle Yeoh (a Bond girl! She was in "Tomorrow Never Dies.")
• Tuesday: Pentatonix (winners of "The Sing-Off")
• Wednesday: Robin Wright
• Thursday: Sandra Bullock The cast from "Downton Abbey"
• Friday: Claire Danes 

(Please keep in mind that TODAY is a live broadcast and our guests are subject to change.)

Can't make it to our plaza? Donate online at Amazon.com/TODAY.

Sociedad Latina

The items collected during TODAY Show's Toy Drive are often given to families who cannot afford to buy presents, so that the children can open a gift that's given to them by a loved one, not a charity. These items reach millions of kids in all 50 states.

You can be part of making this year's toy drive the most successful ever by donating online at Amazon.com/TODAY.

Each week, we will spotlight a specific charity that has benefited in the past from your generous donations in person and online. This week, we are showcasing Sociedad Latina in Roxbury, MA. Here's a little more information about them, the amazing work they do and some photos of the kids who are helped by this organization and you:

Since 1968, Sociedad Latina has worked in partnership with Latino youth and families in Roxbury, Massachusetts and the surrounding communities to end destructive cycles of poverty, health inequities, and lack of educational and professional opportunities in our community.

Sociedad Latina

Through our Pathways to Success model we pioneer new and innovative solutions to the most pressing issues facing Latino youth today with a focus on celebrating our Latino heritage and empowering youth to construct identities that are firmly rooted in their Latino culture. Our model supports positive youth development from age 10-21, creates a community that values young people, and trains all youth to advocate for themselves and their communities.

Each year, Sociedad Latina serves 3,000 youth and adults. Three hundred of those youth age 10-21 engage intensively with Sociedad Latina through our comprehensive array of daily programming designed to build skills in four areas, identified by our constituents as those most in need of support: Education, Workforce Development, Civic Engagement, and Arts & Culture. Programs promote long term engagement, positive relationships with adults, and cultural pride, providing youth at-risk with a vast network of support that enables them to grow into confident, competent, successful and self-sustaining adults.

 Sociedad Latina provides the following programs to our community. All integrate education, workforce development, civic engagement and arts and cultural activities to ensure youth exit our programs with broad skill sets and diverse interests:

            Mission Enrichment Program: Middle school academic and enrichment program

            Mission Possible!: Pathways to higher education and employment

            Saturday ELL Academy: Saturday academic and enrichment program for English Language Learners

            Acceleration Academy: Targeted academic support and 21^st century skill building for youth in need of extra support

            Youth Community Organizing: Youth-led community organizing around issues affecting Roxbury and Latino communities

            Health Educators in Action: Education and community organizing around health inequities

            Health Careers for Youth: Healthcare internships in the Longwood Medical Area

            Music Clubhouse: Music and cultural programming for community youth and families

Sociedad Latina

            Viva La Cultura!: Girls mentoring program

            Latino Mental Health Services: Case management, family engagement, and mental health education for youth and families

TODAY Toy Drive donations are distributed to children and families in our community in celebration of Three Kings Day, a traditional Latino holiday on Jan. 6. The children and families who receive gifts are all low-income and join us for this celebration of Latino culture that strengthens our community year after year. Thanks to toy donations from the TODAY Show, Sociedad Latina is able to continue offering this important event to our community despite challenging economic times.

More: Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Domestic Violence Intervention Services

Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Portland Homeless Family Solutions

TODAY launches it's 18th Annual Toy and Gift Drive

Domestic Violence Intervention Services

The items collected during TODAY Show's Toy Drive are often given to families who cannot afford to buy presents, so that the children can open a gift that's given to them by a loved one, not a charity. These items reach millions of kids in all 50 states.

You can be part of making this year's toy drive the most successful ever by donating online at Amazon.com/TODAY.

Each week, we will spotlight a specific charity that has benefited in the past from your generous donations in person and online. This week, we are showcasing Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. (DVIS/Call Rape) in Tulsa, OK. Here's a little more information about them and some photos of their volunteers and staff:

Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. (DVIS/Call Rape) was founded in 1976 as the Tulsa Task Force for Battered Women, offering a telephone crisis line. In 1979, the organization began offering a comprehensive array of services, was incorporated, and became a member agency of the United Way. The name was then changed to Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc. (DVIS). In January of 2005, DVIS merged with Call Rape and added sexual assault services to the existing continuum of care. The organization has now grown into the only local community-based full service agency in Tulsa and Creek counties, and the only accredited domestic violence agency in the state of Oklahoma, providing intervention, prevention, and education services to families and individuals affected by domestic violence and sexual assault. Programs include: a 50-bed emergency shelter, a transitional living facility, outpatient counseling, therapeutic children's counseling, court and legal advocacy, community outreach and education, and prevention in schools using a curriculum on healthy relationships and dating violence.

During 2010, DVIS/Call Rape provided safe housing, food, clothing and supportive services for 407 women and 261 children at our emergency shelter. One option that survivors have when they leave the shelter is to apply for Sojourner’s Inn, a transitional living facility. Sojourner’s Inn is a gated 13 unit apartment complex with a variety of 1, 2, & 3 bedroom apartments. The mission of the program is to facilitate the transition of women and children who are homeless and victims of domestic and sexual violence into a stable lifestyle with permanent housing. During 2010, 24 women and 27 children received supportive transitional housing at Sojourner’s Inn.

Domestic Violence Intervention Services

For many years, DVIS/Call Rape has been receiving toys from TODAY Show's Toy Drive that go to the children at our emergency shelter and our transitional living facility, Sojourner’s Inn. These toys help make the holidays brighter for these children who have left their homes with their mothers due to domestic violence in the home. All the little girls were given adorable wooden tea sets last year, and for weeks after Christmas girls were having tea parties around the shelter and at our transitional living facility. Two years ago we received enough games from Hasbro that every child at both the shelter and our transitional living facility received a brand new game of their own. Many of the children have left most or all of their toys behind when escaping abuse with their mother, so these gifts are truly cherished. Thank you for making this happen.

More: Toy Drive Charity Spotlight: Portland Homeless Family Solutions

TODAY launches it's 18th Annual Toy and Gift Drive

We’re getting ready for the holiday season! TODAY is kicking off its 18th Annual Holiday Toy and Gift Drive for needy families all over the United States.

And you can be part of making this year's toy drive the most successful ever by donating in person or online at Amazon.com/Today

Why do we do it? You’ve read it in the papers and heard it on the news. Poverty in America has hit its highest rate since the Depression. And the hardest hit are children: nearly one in four live in poverty. For the children we help in our Toy Drive, that number is a sobering 90% of families.

So for these children, there will be no toys. Unless you help. We are proud to continue TODAY's long tradition of reaching beyond the looking glass of Studio 1A and right into the communities where our viewers live again in 2011.

Even the smallest gift is appreciated. This holiday season, as you celebrate your family, take a moment to let these children know they are loved. Help a mom or dad see their child smile this Holiday season with a donation to our Toy Drive.

TODAY has distributed nearly $250 million in donations since 1994. The TODAY Show Toy Drive is the first independent gift drive in morning show history. The unique program is designed to provide gifts for impoverished children and teenagers up to age 18 nationwide. Please help us during these trying times to give a gift to every child on our list. For many of them, we are the ONLY source of gifts for the holidays

Please contact us now!

If you are interested in making a contribution, and all donations are appreciated, no matter how big or small, please email either Sam Sagenkahn (sam.sagenkahn@nbcuni.com) or Kate Cook (katherine.cook@nbcuni.com) at the Toy Drive. We hope to hear from you. You can also call 212-664-7508 for more information.

Donate in person and see some stars!
The Toy Drive is now a Rockefeller Center tradition. Surprise celebrities visit the crowd each morning to gather up their donations. Among those who came to help in past years have been George Clooney, Jon Hamm, Hillary Swank, Jim Carrey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Jack Black, Kevin Bacon, Scarlett Johannson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ashanti, Flo Rida, The Script, Natasha Bedingfield, Paula Abdul, Rick Springfield, Sting, LL Cool J, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick, Jr., Martin Sheen, Julie Andrews, Robin Williams, Alex Rodriguez, Henry Kissinger, Yogi Berra, Katy Perry, Owen Wilson, Michael Buble, Joe Perry from Aerosmith, Dustin Hoffman, Fall Out Boy, Susan Lucci, Molly Shannon, Donald Trump, Jimmy Smits, Ricky Gervais, Jessica Alba, Phylicia Rashad, LeAnn Rimes, Jason Mraz and Jimmy Buffett. Who knows who will be wearing the Santa hat? You've got to be here to see!

Major donations from corporations will begin to appear on the show beginning November 21. Starting the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28), we're urging all the visitors to Rockefeller Plaza to join in the fun and bring a gift for a child up to age 18 and donate it live to a surprise guest, on camera every day until December 21nd. So if you're planning a trip to New York, be sure to pack a gift for a child in need.

If you can't make it to Rockefeller Center to donate, you can also donate online.

Donate online
Amazon.com is again the place to go to make online donations. Go to the TODAY show's Amazon Wish List. At www.amazon.com/today add as many items as you like to your cart, complete the checkout and Amazon.com will do the rest! All the toys from the TODAY show's Wish List are top sellers from Amazon's Holiday Toy List.

Donate anytime at the NBC Experience Store
If you can’t be here to join in the on-air fun, be sure to visit the NBC Experience Store to drop off your gift in the special TODAY show Toy Drive bin. This is the only place that you can donate in person after show hours.

The recipients
The items are often given to families who cannot afford to buy presents, so that the children can open a gift that's given to them by a loved one, not a charity. These items reach millions of kids in all 50 states. Recipients include homeless shelters, children's group homes, schools, foster family services, domestic abuse shelters, Native American missions, military bases, hospitals, preschools, after school programs, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Click here to read our spotlight on one of those great organizations. Each week, we will be spotlighting one of those great organizations. This week, we're showcasing Portland Homeless Family Solutions' Goose Hollow Family Shelter. Click here to read more about them.

The TODAY Show Toy Drive is a project of the TODAY Show Charitable Foundation, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent the law allows. In 2010, it was awarded the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Foundation Philanthropy Award and in 2008, it was honored with a President's Volunteer Service Award.

Let's all work together in making this year's toy drive the most successful ever. It comes at a time of great need.

2011 Donors

Our sincere thanks go to the following organizations for their generous contributions:

Mary Kay, Abrams Books, Thirty-One Gifts, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's "Year of a Million Moments", PartyLite Gifts, Kohl's Department Store, The Southwestern Company, DK Publishing, Lego, Direct Selling Association, Stampin' Up!, Duracell, Tupperware, Amway, Mattel, Aeropostale, Goody, Cheerios, UPPAbaby, 4Life, Harper Collins Children's Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Microsoft,  Arbonne, Stride Rite, Avon, TOMY, Ugly Dolls, Sara Lee Inc., Radio Flyer, Toy Industry Foundation, Hasbro, lia sophia, Jakks Pacific, Inc., Amazon.com, Essential Bodywear, MOGO, The Company Store,  Cooper and Me,  Kay Jewelers, Crest 3D White, Neways, Shaklee, Playmobil, Peanuts Worldwide, HomeGoods, Cutco, Wells Fargo, Barefoot Books, Bananagrams,  Udderly Smooth, Vans, B'nai B'rith International, Caboodles, Major League Baseball, Blessings Unlimited, Pink Papaya, Team National, Senegence, Oxyfresh, Prestige Toy Company, Vantel Pearls, DeTech, Willow House, Mustela, Dad Does, Toys'R'Us, NSA, Wuggle Pets