Shriners make big donation to Kristi's Kids

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TUCSON - The Sabbar Shriners donated $2,000 to our Kristi's Kids and Season of Hope campaign, and on Friday News 4's Kristi Tedesco and area firefighters headed to Toys R' US to shop for toys for the Toys for Tots program.

At this time, Toys for Tots sill need 25,000 new, unwrapped toys.

"There are all sorts of toys you can get with $2,000," says Trish Tracy with the Tucson Fire Department.

"As firefighters, we're in the community," says David Arneson, Northwest fire paramedic. "We see the families that need this. The kids who won't have toys at Christmas, so to get this donation at this time of year is amazing."

And we know, in news, to expect the unexpected, and it happened here.

"A woman in the store just walked up and handed $40 and said she'd like to contribute," says Tracy.

And then, a grandmother of 16 gave another $20.

"It just hit me," says Mary Russell. "I got this in my pocket. I might as well do something useful with it."

In the end, we scanned 136 nice gifts for $2,060.

You can still donate your new, unwrapped toy by Monday. You can make your donation to any area fire station.