NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For decades, the Last Minute Toy Store has been a godsend come the holidays, providing holiday gifts to thousands of families in need.
But now, the families that rely on that assistance may be out of luck.
This week, the nonprofit announced it is suspending operations this year.
Its longtime partner, the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, which hosted the event for about a decade, can't accommodate the event because it's building a new jail on the campus.
"This was the news I was really worried for and was hoping we were not going to get," said Bekah Stogner, who volunteered for the toy store with her dad since 2009.
"Just on top of being devastated as...volunteers who don't get to go in and do this and serve the public in this way, I just can't imagine how much even more devastating this is for the families that that needed and have used it, and all the lives that this has changed in the 32 years that it's been an organization," Stogner went on. "So if this really is the end, I just, I'm sad to see what Nashville will look like without this organization every year."
A board member tells us they looked for a new location, but there was nothing that worked to host this Christmas.
While the future of the nonprofit is unclear, its impact is evident.
"The impact of helping one family or one child is so much bigger than you, or anybody, could ever trace. So...this was an organization that did so, so much good for Nashville," concluded Stogner.
Other organizations are available to help during the holidays. That includes The Salvation Army, Second Harvest, The Store, and many more nonprofits across the Mid-State.
In the meantime, if you have a location you think might work for Last Minute Toy Store in the future, reach out and we can share that information.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
September 11, 2001 is a day most associate with terror and tragedy. Austin Pollack shares a story from that day about hope and persistence: the effort to save a little girl’s life – with an organ donation. The problem? The young patient was in Houston, and her life-saving liver here in Nashville. With the grounding of all civilian aircraft, how could it be done? “Nobody ever said this isn’t possible.”
- Rhori Johnston
