Simpson County businesses present donations to Toys for Tots

FRANKLIN, Ky. – A pair of local businesses in Simpson County made donations to Toys for Tots Thursday afternoon.

The Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs made a donation of $3,000 and toys they’ve collected, while Hunt Ford had their own toy drive.

The checks were presented, and the toys were loaded up for the North Pole in Bowling Green as they get ready to be sorted and then make their way to kids in the area.

Both The Mint and Hunt Ford are honored to help out in any way they can this holiday season.

“The community has helped us be successful and any way that we can donate back or give back to the community that has made us who we are. We want to try and do that every time,” Hunt Ford marketing manager Ethan Shutt says.

“We want to be a part of the community and it’s important… like I said, it’s consistency, and Toys for Tots has been a great partner for a number of years. You build up those relationships. So we know that we’re always going to do this in early December just in time to get these toys out,” The Mint Kentucky Downs marketing manager John Wholihan says.

For Simpson County superintendent Tim Schlosser, he loves seeing the smiles on the kids faces when they come back to school and talk about what they got for Christmas.

“You don’t ever want to see a kid not have Christmas, and so {for} them to have the opportunity to be able to have something to unwrap under their tree on Christmas morning, I think it’s very special, and it just makes for a better, it gives a kid a better outlook on life and hopefully a better opportunity when they come to school that they’re excited they had a good Christmas,” he says.

The toys will be handed out at Lincoln Elementary School in Franklin in the coming weeks.