The Panama City Police Department is thanking the public for helping to make this year's Toys for Tots drive a big success.

The police department along with Bill Byrd KIA collected one-thousand toys for needy kids in our area, double the amount from last year.

Chief John Van Etten also presented the local Toys for Tots organization with a check worth over three-thousand dollars.

The national foundation we're told will match some of the proceeds from the toy drive.

"This year has been a little bit tough on a lot of people. So this will go far in the community. It does sty local here in Bay County. We do have a few couple counties we support also because they don't have any toys for tots representatives in those counties," Pamela Ackerland, Bay County's Toys for Tots coordinator said.

Van Etten also presented five-year-old Juliette Tufano with a medal and a big gift for winning the five-year-old division of the Trots for tots 5-k run.

Tufano's family helped with the toy drive.