Austin businesses start toy drive

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Labor Day wildfires ravaged hundreds of homes in Bastrop and not even the community's Pink Santa program was spared.

As the fire roared toward the Tahitian Village neighborhood, it burned homes storing thousands of dollars worth of gifts people had already donated to Bastrop Pink Santa. Now, they have only a fraction of a normal year's haul of toys for the 350 needy families the organization serves.

“I’ve seen the devastation,” said Shane Lambert, Sullivan’s Steakhouse general manager. “It hit a special spot driving through there and seeing it.”

Sullivan’s Steakhouse , along with dozens of other Austin businesses, is taking up the cause with a Toy Drive for Pink Santa. Boxes for toy donations sit right inside their doors.

"We do business with the neighboring communities, as far as our beers are local Austin beers, and that’s on the business end,” said Lambert. “But, as a community we all support each other."

uShip , an online shipping marketplace based in Austin, donated their Help on Wheels RV for toy pick up and delivery to the Downtown Bastrop Christmas Parade .

"We had a friend who reached out to us and said hey can we do a shipment for the Pink Santa program and of course we wanted to help," said Gillian Wilson, uShip human resources manager.

Donations can be dropped off any of these locations until Dec. 10.