San Manuel’s annual toy drive benefits local youth, charities

San Manuel Casino, in partnership with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, recently concluded their Annual Toy Drive, which brought in more than 3,000 toys and $25,000 benefitting organizations that support local youth in the Inland Empire. From the beginning of November through early December, new, unwrapped toys were donated by casino guests, employees, and vendors for kids of all ages. The Toy Drive officially ended on December 5 with a celebration hosted by KOLA 99.9 at Rock & Brews inside San Manuel Casino. Guests enjoyed live music from Queen Nation, a Queen tribute band, and an additional 500 toys were donated.

“We feel honored to have once again brought joy to local families during the holiday season with our annual Toy Drive,” shared Lynn Valbuena, Chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. “We hope to have inspired our community to continue helping one another as we head into the new year.”

For the second year in a row, San Manuel donated several hundred toys to ABC 7’s Spark of Love Toy Drive on November 30, and presented the organization with a check for $25,000. Additionally, on December 7, San Manuel gifted more than 1,000 toys to the California Highway Patrol’s annual “CHiPs for Kids” toy drive.

San Manuel continued its partnership with the San Bernardino City Unified School District to identify families in need. Those families were invited to “Santa’s Pick A Toy Party” hosted at San Manuel Village on December 7. Parents were able to choose the perfect gift for their children from a selection of over 1,000 toys and San Manuel team members were available to help parents wrap their gifts. While parents shopped, fun activities were provided for kids, like a photo op with Santa, arts and crafts, and a cookie decorating station.

Given the immense success of this year’s Toy Drive San Manuel was able to spread the joy even further, donating the remaining toys to Loma Linda Children’s Hospital on Friday, December 14.