Bicycles, tool kits, baby dolls and Buzz Lightyears have begun to fill up the Toys for Tots warehouse as donations have poured in.

Toys for Tots collection boxes were emptied into the pile Friday by volunteers from the Saco Bay Rotary, which organizes the York County toy effort. This weekend it’s time for sorting and displaying the toys at the Rochambeau Club in Biddeford and Curtis Lake Christian Church in Sanford.

Volunteers expect to be taking new names for their ever-growing list of children in need, right up to the week of Christmas.

“Three years ago, we had 1,400 kids,” said Rotarian Leo Menard, who manages the toy effort for the northern part of the county. “We have the capacity to do 1,500, and we knew as the economy got worse, it would grow.”

Their solution: To split the effort in York County. Carol Lombard now handles Toys for Tots from Kittery to Cornish, with the help of the Parent Resource Agency, and is expecting to help about 6,000 children this year. Menard expects as many as 12,000.

“Let’s hope the economy gets better,” he said. “The population hasn’t grown, it’s just the number of people in need.”

Parents will be invited to shop for their children a few days before Christmas, when they will be allowed 1-3 gifts, depending on their value, plus a stuffed animal, sporting item, craft item, stocking stuffers, a family game, and even the wrapping paper and batteries.

“It’s empowering for parents to have some choice,” said Lombard, rather than just be handed a bag of toys.

The Saco Bay Rotary has been hosting collection and distribution of Toys for Tots for the past 20 years, said Menard, and has more than 100 volunteers, including several high school Rotary Club members.

The generosity of those in southern Maine has been outstanding this year, said Menard, from ticket donations from the Portland Pirates to boxes and shrink wrap from Volk Packaging.

“There are a lot of good people in this community,” he said.

But even so, monetary donations are down, due to the poor economy, said Menard. Last year, the group raised $25,000 and expects to come in at $7,000 less this year. The sale of name tag donation slips that are displayed at local businesses is expected to offset that loss, he said, since people are often willing to give $1-2 dollars rather than purchase a $10 gift.

The Rotary’s new storage space ”“ donated by a local business and kept secret for security purposes ”“ has also allowed them to offset some of the loss by taking in large shipments of surplus goods, including a shipment of 17,000 books from UPS and boxes of stuffed animals from Poland Spring. It will also allow them to purchase toys year-round, as well as take advantage of after-Christmas deals.

“I’ve never been without,” said Menard, but he can recall his parents’ stories of getting a pair of socks for Christmas or looking forward to having enough meat on the table for everyone to share.

“I just can’t fathom families going like that,” he said. “No parent wants their kid to go without, and I have no doubt they’d buy a toy with money they should have used for food or heat. This leaves them money for essentials.”

Lombard, a social worker, said she got involved with Toys for Tots when she noticed the level of need in the families she serves.

“I strongly believe that self esteem develops in childhood,” she said. She compared Christmas gifts to a classroom scenario: If a class of 30 has 29 children who see the new Harry Potter movie, she said, that one child feels “left out” and “less than.”

“That goes into the building of that child’s personality,” she said.

Menard said he has heard complaints in the past that those who get the free toys have nice cars in the parking lot, but warned against making judgments based on that. The car may be paid off, he said, or purchased when both the husband and wife had work.

“Maybe now it’s just the husband working and they don’t have enough money to pay the bills ”“ and certainly not enough for Christmas,” he said.

“Your neighbors may not be doing as well as you think they are,” added Lombard.

Those who accept gifts from Toys for Tots must prove residency, custody of their children, and sign an agreement that the toys are, in fact, for their children and not for resale. The organization shares its lists with other social service agencies, such as the Salvation Army, to prevent “double-dipping,” said Menard.

“We’re working to make sure people aren’t ripping the system off,” he said.

At the same time, he noted that 100 percent of the money donated to Toys for Tots stays with the local chapter and all donated toys are used locally.

“It gets handed out to the kid who lives down the street from you,” said volunteer Rickie Stevens, of Limerick.

This year, families can sign up for Toys for Tots online. Stevens is handling registration this year, as a way to give back to the organization that she said has helped her for years.

Visit toysfortots.org for more information.

— City Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 322 or kristenm@journaltribune.com.