Police and fire crews in Granite Shoals are in the final push to assist with a community-wide toy drive. The annual Operation Outreach Fill the Boat fundraiser runs through Nov. 30. Toy donations can be dropped off in parked boats at the Granite Shoals Police Depart - ment, 410 N. Phillips Ranch Rd. and the Gran - ite Shoals Fire Depart - ment, 8410 RM 1431. Applications to be eligible for toys can be found at Highland Lakes Elementary, at RR 1431 and H.A. Barnett Road in Granite Shoals; Texas Food Stamp Office, 1406 Resource Parkway in Mar - ble Falls; and The Helping Center, 1016 Broadway in Marble Falls.
Granite Shoals Christ - mas Outreach (GSCO) is a community 501(c) (3) non-profit funded by an - nual fundraisers and gen - erous donations by citi - zens of the community. GSCO was founded in 2002 when the Beaver Island POA collected toys for needy children and asked the Granite Shoals Faith Alliance for help in passing them out. The Granite Shoals Faith Alliance joined with community members to form Granite Shoals Christmas Outreach. Each year the program provides three new toys or gifts, and one or two new books per child. The program also gives each family a game. For the past few years, each child has received a fleece throw.
The main fundraiser for Granite Shoals Christ - mas Outreach involves a recent barbecue hosted by the Granite Shoals Police Officers Association and the Granite Shoals Fire Auxiliary which occurs in November. For the past few years both the Granite Shoals Police Department and the Granite Shoals Fire Department have put their boats out in front of their buildings and in - vited the community to fill them with unwrapped toys and gifts for children ages newborn to 15 for Granite Shoals Christmas Outreach. Both boats are video monitored. The biggest need is for ages 10 to 15. The outreach effort also involves buying books from FirstBook.org who has partnered with publishers and others to provide low cost books to schools and programs serving needy children. In December volun -
