It was a cold morning on Black Friday this year, but that didn’t stop Matt Thurner and his wife from standing in the parking lot of the Five Below in Butler Commons for hours.

They weren’t waiting in line for deals, however. Instead, they stood next to a yellow school bus they hoped to stuff full of toys for Toys for Tots.

Thurner is coordinator for the Butler chapter of Toys for Tots, a program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve that aims to distribute toys to children whose parents need assistance paying for gifts.

The organization primarily collects toys through physical drop sites — the small, white boxes with red lettering usually seen in businesses. More than 200 of those sites are scattered across the area this year.

Thurner noted year over year, the need for toys remains high

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