PRESTONSBURG — Over 400 children received gifts and got the chance to speak with Santa Claus at the Carl D. Perkins Job Corps Center’s eighth annual Toys for Tots event held on Wednesday.

“It’s been a really good program and we enjoy doing it,” said Thomas Rainey, director of the Carl D. Perkins Job Corps Center. “It’s great to see the children’s smiling faces.”

This year, officials with the center decided to try something a little different based on suggestions from parents. The toys were brought to numbered tables to be handed out to the children, and then the parents or guardians were given the opportunity to get in line for their children to meet Santa. Some parents told officials that the previous events had lasted too long when the children received the gifts after sitting in the sleigh with Santa.

Along with the toys donated by the Marines, local residents and businesses also chipped in to ensure that the children all received special Christmas gifts.

According to the Toys for Tots website, “The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help less fortunate children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable resources, our children, to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future.”