KENNESAW - Thousands of children in Cobb received Christmas gifts on Friday, thanks to the help of members of the North Cobb Rotary Club.

The Kennesaw-based service club collected 4,000 new toys this year for low-income families. Roughly 1,450 families - including 4,000 children - visited the Cobb Christmas Inc. warehouse at Jim Miller Park on Dec. 18 to pick them up, along with food baskets. Cobb Christmas Inc. is a non-profit founded in 1963.

The rotary club has long financially supported the organization and helped sort toys out during the holidays. But it decided to do something extra special after Jeff Bass, a former volunteer Harrison High School football coach, was elected North Cobb Rotary president, said spokesman Mike Straus.

"The decision was made that due to our challenging economic times, we needed to do something special to help some of Cobb's neediest kids have a great Christmas," Straus said.

"By working with the four Interact clubs they normally work with and two area private schools, North Cobb Rotary was able to do something really special and was able to help assure that all 4,000 families being served by Cobb Christmas would continue to receive at least four new toys this year."

Interact Clubs, sponsored by the Rotary Club, from Allatoona, Harrison and Marietta High schools also participated in the toy drive.

The club setup "Stuff the Bus" toy collections at three high school football games this fall that resulted in the collection of about 3,500 toys, Straus said. In addition, he said more toys were collected by NorthStar Church in Kennesaw, All Court Tennis Academy and several peace officers from the Marietta Police Department.

"This year, we will help make Christmas a reality for 1,450 needy Cobb County families with more than 4,000 children," said Myranda Flemister of Cobb Christmas.

"We will be giving out about 16,000 new toys and it is so wonderful that involvement of North Cobb Rotary and the Interact club has made it possible that we can continue to give four toys to each of the children."