The Medical College of Georgia Children's Medical Center is sponsoring its annual toy drive in hopes of bringing joy to its patients on Christmas.

"On Christmas morning, Santa goes around to all the patients and delivers gifts," said Katie Lawhead, coordinator of donations and a child life specialist. "It brings the children a lot of joy on Christmas morning."

Each child receives a teddy bear, a stocking full of goodies and a gift that is donated through the annual toy drive, she said.

Toys should be new and in their original packaging, including stuffed animals.

The Children's Medical Center has set up registries at area Target, Wal-Mart and Babies R Us locations. The registries list suggested donation items.

"We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to give, so while they are out doing their shopping, they can check out the registries to get an idea of what to donate," Ms. Lawhead said.

People are also encouraged to remember the teen patients when selecting toys to donate, she added.

"We always receive lots of donations for babies and younger children, but sometimes people forget that we also have a pretty heavy number of teen patients," she said.

"We want to be sure they receive something on Christmas morning, too."

The toy drive continues through Friday.

Donations may be dropped off at the MCG Children's Medical Center lobby in the holiday bin or people may contact Ms. Lawhead at (706)721-4392 to set up a time to deliver donations.