With Christmas only days away and despite the troubled national economy, the annual Carroll County Toys for Tots campaign has been declared a major success.

This year’s campaign garnered more than 15,000 gifts for 2,308 underprivileged children in the county alone. In addition, presents from Carroll County went to 507 children in Heard County. Several hundred toys also went to Haralson County. The number of toys raised nearly doubles the amount raised last year.

The vast majority of all that was collected came courtesy of local drives sponsored by neighborhood businesses as well as from the approximately two dozen collection centers located across the county. Southwire alone raised more than 6,000 toys.

Because of the strain placed on all family budgets because of the nationwide recession, the amount collected at the wire manufacturer represents a great success, said Gary Leftwich, director of corporate communication at the company.

“As we started planning this year’s drive, the recession weighed heavily on our minds. We were unsure how people would respond to a call for toys given the tough economic times. For that reason, we did not set a goal as we had done in previous years,” Leftwich said. “When we reached the 2,500-toy mark the first day, which was cold and rainy, I knew we had a shot at really making a difference. As we reached 5,000 toys, I was overwhelmed. The final tally was 6,150 toys. I would never have believed we could bring in that many toys. I guess faith is the key.”

The Toys for Tots program was founded by Maj. Bill Hendricks of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1947 with a drive in Los Angeles that raised about 5,000 toys. In 1948, the campaign went nationwide, and to date, Toys for Tots has helped give 173 million children a memorable Christmas.

On the local stage, Carlis Baker has been working with Toys for Tots for the last nine years and currently serves as the local coordinator for Carroll, Haralson and Heard counties.

Baker said the economic struggles facing residents actually helped to encourage this year’s drive, as volunteers and sponsors alike came out to lend a helping hand.

“Sponsors went a little further in their efforts, and we also had more people come on board because of the economic downturn. A lot of people wanted to get involve because they saw the need,” Baker said. “I was overwhelmed this year. I’m human like everyone else. I didn’t think we’d do so well but we exceeded my expectations.”

(Times-Georgian staff writer Laura Camper contributed to this article.)