ACROSS CAPE COD
    Firefighters, Police officers, local radio stations, merchants, and many volunteers joined forces across Cape Cod to collect Toys for Tots, food for local food pantries, clothing for needy, and other donations to support local charities this holiday season.

     The Toys for Tots program started by the Marine Corps Reserve many years ago has been supported on Cape Cod by local fire and police departments for 19 years through the "Stuff a Bus" event begun in 1996.

     Toys donated by the public are dropped off at local fire and policed stations, or at sites such as the "Homeless for the Holidays" events held in several communities. They are then loaded aboard fire trucks, police cars, and other vehicles and brought to the Festival Plaza in Hyannis outside the Toys "R" Us store. Toys are then bagged, loaded into dozens of First Student school buses, and brought to a warehouse where they are sorted and prepared to be delivered to needy children across the area.

     Thousands of toys are collected each year!

     This year's event was held the week leading up to Sunday December 14, 2014.

                                              IN YARMOUTH
    Firefighters in Yarmouth set up their "Homeless for the Holidays" camp on Route 28 in South Yarmouth for the week leading up to Dec 14, 2014.  In addition to collecting Toys for Tots, the Yarmouth team also collected for the Yarmouth Food Pantry and Katelynn's  Closet. According to a spokesperson, the public was incredibly generous dropping off food, clothing, toys, and money to support the local charities this year. The "Homeless" camp remained open 24 hours a day for the past week.

                                               IN MASHPEE
The Mashpee Rotary Circle was home to the Mashpee Fire Department's
"Homeless for the Holidays" camp this year. Crews set up tents and trailers to collect donated toys for the Toys for Tots program. Firefighters, families, and friends staffed the site 24/7 for the past week.

                                              IN HARWICH
    Most of the Fire and Police departments across the Cape serve as collection points for toys. The Harwich Public Safety Building is one example of the efforts put on by various departments.

                                              IN COTUIT
    Firefighters in Cotuit set up Brush Breaker 267 along Route 28 to draw attention to their "Homeless for the Holidays" toy collection point.

                                              STATE POLICE
    The State Police in Bourne display their support for the Toys for Tots program.

                                              IN BOURNE
    Firefighters Bourne have been using the "Homeless for the Holidays" event for some 14 years as a means of raising funds, collecting toys, food, and clothing to support local needs.

                                              IN HYANNIS
    The big event is the "Stuff a Bus" event in Hyannis on Sunday December 14, 2014 when a parade of police and fire vehicles make their way to the Festival Plaza to drop off the toys. This year the participation of departments and the number of toys exceeded previous years.