For the fifth straight year, the roar of motorcycle engines filled Lander Avenue and its surrounding neighborhoods, as hundreds of local bikers drove into the Salvation Army Turlock Corp. parking lot on Saturday to deliver their annual shipment of toys for children in need.

Many of the men and women on the bikes are members of the United Motorcycle Clubs. They come from throughout the Central Valley to do year-round community service projects, like the annual holiday drop-offs. 

Although they didn’t quite come in as large of numbers this winter (nearly 200 compared to the over 300 last year), they delivered their biggest haul yet, with Salvation Army Captain Katie Breazeale estimating roughly 5,000 toys of all sizes for all ages donated, including bikes, board games and balls.

This year, 11 local families were sponsored, and received their own personal hauls of gifts, as well as a home-cooked meal prepared just prior to Saturday’s drop-off. The rest of the gifts will be distributed to more than a thousand children who were signed up through the Turlock Salvation Army’s holiday gift program.