CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – After making four stops in Miami-Dade County starting with Kendall, the Big Bus Toy Express made five more stops in Broward County ending its Friday journey with nearly 19,000 toys.
The last stop to benefit the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots was at the Tropical Financial Credit Union, at 8947 W. Atlantic Blvd., in Coral Springs.
Toys for Tots has more than 62,000 toy requests this Christmas in South Florida and on Thursday the team at the warehouse in Hialeah was still down 43,000 toys.
By Friday evening, the Toys for Tots team in Hialeah reported the Big Bus Toy Express collected 18,735 gifts on Friday. The donations put a dent on the list, and the program still needs about 24,265 more toys.
The journey began at 6 a.m. at the Tropical Financial Credit Union, at 10510 SW 88th St., in Kendall.
The Big Bus stopped at the Walgreens, at 9675 NW 41 St., in Doral, and at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts at 1300 Biscayne Blvd. The last stop in Miami-Dade was at the Walgreens at 18655 Biscayne Blvd., in Aventura.
In Broward County, the bus had two stops in Pembroke Pines: Vera Cadillac Buick GMC, at 300 S. University Dr., and Walgreens at 15911 Pines Blvd.
The Big Bus made the seventh stop from 3 to 4 p.m. at Walgreens at 3015 S. University Dr., in Davie.
A big team waited for the bus at IKEA at 151 NW 136 Ave., in Sunrise.
The stop was from 6 to 7 p.m. at Tropical Financial Credit Union, at 8947 W. Atlantic Blvd., in Coral Springs.
Thursday afternoon