BLOOMINGTON - Parents leaving the Salvation Army chapel carried toy-filled black plastic bags nearly as big as they were. Toys and books lined tables, and mounds of bagged stocking stuffers loomed behind volunteers. | Video

Inside the agency's community center next door, stacks of boxes topped 6 feet tall.

Volunteers with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program handed out thousands of gifts to children Thursday, said Salvation Army Capt. Scott Shelbourn. Distribution will continue today and for half a day Monday.

Matt Drat, director of the McLean County Toys for Tots drive, said the charity collected nearly 34,000 toys, books, board games and other gifts this year, up from a little more than 26,000 last year. And the items would be distributed to about 7,000 children ranging from newborns to 16 year olds.

For families living paycheck to paycheck, including an increasing number of middle-class ones, the program made a huge difference this Christmas.

"This is very helpful for families that can't afford to buy presents at this time of year because we're trying to pay the light bill," Seretta Sims of Bloomington said, adding money left over after bills goes to other essentials, such as clothing.

Toys for Tots helped provide Christmas presents for her son and three daughters.

Willie Ramos said the gifts help a lot for his three girls and two boys. The carpenter from Bloomington said the service wasn't needed last year, but times are tougher this year.

Herb Neeley said he and Amanda Siwecky are young parents with a lot of bills, and the organization is helping provide gifts for their 2 ½-year-old, Haiden.

"Without this, he wouldn't have a decent Christmas," Neeley said. "It helps a lot."

Before Thursday, Toys for Tots had distributed more than 5,000 toys to other charitable organizations, Drat said.

This year's gifts went to more middle-class homes than in prior years, Drat said, adding many people who asked for help were barely making ends meet or had just lost jobs.

Many of those additional people who needed the organization's help were people living paycheck to paycheck, he said.

People receiving the gifts had to apply ahead of time and were screened based on need.

The year's high number of toy recalls presented a challenge, but the local toy drive wasn't as hard hit as others, Drat said. Volunteers found less than 50 toys from the recall list among donations, he said.

A second problem involved an attempt by at least one scammer to cash in on the Toys for Tots name, Drat said. But people quickly identified the activity as a scam because the man said he was selling toys, rather than collecting them, and donating part of the proceeds.

Drat said this was the first year of such a scam locally using the Toys for Tots name, and news of the scam displeased some Marines. He said that if the scammer simply needed money, the organization would have been willing to help if asked.