SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — People were in the holiday spirit and were spreading cheering by contributing to a good cause.

The civil air patrol collected toy donations Saturday at the K-Mart on Liberty Street in Springfield.

Those toys will go to Shriners Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House.

This is the third year the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force has held the toy drive and they say participation is growing.

“People were very generous, went in and bought several types of toys, donate them to us, and a lot of cash donations. So, it started out slow, built up quickly, and we did very well,” says one of the patrolmen.

The Civil Air Patrol often puts on benefits like this to give back to the community.