Melissa Castillo, incoming director of operations for Medford-based Lightly Loved Toys, center, said the nonprofit's Facebook page receives a request for holiday toys every 15 minutes. Next week, she anticipates the number to increase to two requests every 15 minutes.

When Medford resident Kathy Greager launched a small toy ministry in 2001, she never imagined creating a nonprofit that would reach thousands of children in need over more than two decades.

The mother of three said she was cleaning out her own children’s toys that year and found some unused and gently used items she wanted to share. In seeking out local families who could use the toys, Greager, now headed into her 24th year as director of Lightly Loved Toys, ended up with a list of 35 kids and set out to spread some holiday cheer.

“I was just a mom, going through my kids’ stuff … kind of a pre-Christmas purge. I was looking at all these toys and some of them were still in boxes and had never been played with,” Greager said.

“We didn’t have a lot, but I felt like we had enough to be able to share.”

With her daughter, who is now an adult, then attending Head Start preschool, Greager reached out to an advocate for the agency to offer the toys for families in need.

“She started telling me about the number of families that were going without because they hadn’t done the right paperwork or they didn’t meet one requirement or another,” Greager recalled this week.

“I gathered up what we had and reached out to friends and said, ‘Let’s all get together and take care of these kids.’ It felt good to be able to help,” she said. “By January, I started wondering how we could do even more.”

More than two decades later, Greager’s toy ministry has provided gifts for holidays and birthdays for thousands of children. Most years, during Christmas alone, a minimum of between 1,000 and 1,500 families are served. The ministry allows parents or guardians to “shop” for their children from items donated or purchased using donated funds.

In addition to a main gift, recipients receive several smaller gifts, stocking stuffers and other items including books, puzzles or holiday treats. Headquartered out of New Song Community Church in Medford, the nonprofit fundraises year-round and hosts a toy collection on Medford’s Cherry Lane during the neighborhood’s signature holiday light display.

With the nonprofit growing by leaps and bounds, Greager will mark her 24th Christmas by bringing on reinforcements and passing the reins to a new director.

Running a successful tie-dye business for over a decade — donating a portion of proceeds to the toy ministry — it’s become increasingly difficult to “do it all,” she said.

“Every time for the last 23 years, as this thing was growing and growing, whenever somebody would say, ‘How long are you going to do this?’ I would just start crying, wondering if I’d ever find someone to take it over,” Greager said.

Almost as if Greager had asked old St. Nick for an assist, Melissa Castillo of Medford showed up three years ago to volunteer. Having worked with nonprofit entities, and a foster parent and huge fan of Christmas to boot, she knew she’d take over one day.

“It was already a ministry that I tried to support whenever I could. When I first got involved and she told me that anybody was welcome to come and get help, my heart just melted,” Castillo said.

“I just felt like, ‘OK, I can really get on board with this kind of thing. There are tons of people that get overlooked for all kinds of reasons — people make $25 too much to qualify for food stamps, people raising grandchildren but not being served by an agency, families who need extra help but aren’t sure how to ask. … We help anyone in need, period.”

In addition to a growing volume of toys collected and distributed, Lightly Loved Toys has grown in volunteer ranks from a handful of helpers to four-dozen. It also has become a resource for families with teens, who don’t fare as well as younger children during the holiday season. Castillo noted, “Most people donate for little kids, so we try to make sure the teens don’t get overlooked.”

Castillo said she’s eager to take some pressure off Greager, who will provide mentorship for as long as it takes.

“She’s gonna be walking me through everything for the next year or so. She’ll be right here with me as we make the transition,” Castillo said.

“I’m just really excited to be on board and to be able to take the reins on this wonderful thing she started.”

Greager said the two women have worked seamlessly together, not missing a beat, even amid increasing need.

“We have a volunteer with a spreadsheet who schedules the people who message our Lightly Loved Toys page. We usually schedule at least one appointment every 15 minutes. Next week, will be up to two and three appointments every 15 minutes,” Greager said.

“We’ve never had to turn anybody away. We’ll get down to one toy left and we’ll end with a kid who wanted that toy.”

Castillo, who grew up in an underprivileged home, knows all too well the meaning of receiving gifts during the holidays.

“My mother was a single mom of five kids and we lived in The Salvation Army (shelter) for a good year. Had it not been for them, we wouldn’t have had Christmas,” she said.

Greager said she looked forward to watching Castillo at the helm of her beloved nonprofit.

“I love what has been created here. We’ve had amazing community support, and I hope that that’s going to continue because I know Melissa can take this to places that I couldn’t,” Greager said.

“I love this ministry, and I love the people we serve. … It feels really good that it’s been built into something that was worth passing on.”

For more details on Lightly Loved Toys, visit facebook.com/santaliveshere.