Melissa Hale-Spencer is reporting for The Altamont Enterprise in 2019, the Capital Region Toys for Tots campaign collected and distributed approximately 460,000 toys, according to Marine Corps Reserve Staff Sergeant Patrick Lurenz. This year, as the pandemic shutdown continues and more families are struggling financially, Lurenz said, the need will be much greater but, at the same time, collecting the toys will be more difficult. The campaign normally allows 10 weeks for toy requests to come in, but this year, just two weeks into those 10 weeks, the program has already received 80 percent of all the requests made last year. “To say we are concerned … is an understatement,” Lurrenz said at an Albany County press briefing early this week. While the need is way up this year, Lurenz said, there is concern that, with the rate of coronavirus infections on the rise, people may be reluctant to walk into stores to donate. Last year, 35 percent of the toys, he said, were donated to bins at Dunkin’ shops, which may not be considered safe this year. To solve this problem, the program is partnering with the Albany County and with Dunkin’ to have safe toy-drop locations. Anyone wishing to donate can visit the Albany County Hockey Facility at 830 Albany Shaker Road in Colonie on Sat., Nov. 7, or Sat., Nov. 14, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to drive through the parking lot and drop off new, unwrapped toys. Lurenz said, “2020 … has been a very trying year. People who have never been in need before — even people who had donated to Toys for Tots in previous years — are now in need themselves, he said. Read more in The Altamont Enterprise.