This year at Dunder Mifflin, the Party Planning Committee holds a secret rendevous right before the Thanksgiving break. The meeting is quick, but the topic is heated: how to handle this year's Secret Santa exchange. Voices are raised, and many cheeks are flushed with the tinge of bad memories. The words go in circles until Phyllis wisely suggests a toy drive instead. That way, there can still be presents, but no one's feelings could possibly be hurt, and poor children would reap the benefits. Even Angela can find no fault with this, though she does try.

It is ultimately Ryan who is dispatched to tell Michael the news, and because she knows Michael's simply a little boy inside, Pam goes with Ryan. Sure enough, Michael winds up to pitch a fit about his beloved Secret Santa, but Pam interrupts him to talk loudly to Ryan about how they could display all the toys so everyone can see who brought the biggest and the best. Michael's eyes get big, his smile returns, and a ridiculous little crisis is averted.

The rest of the officemates agree to the toy drive. Stanley even goes so far as to nod in approval, and Kelly squeals with delight. When the Stamfordites arrive, they accept the idea wholeheartedly, though Jim raises an eyebrow when he hears of it, realizing that Secret Santa has been put to bed. 

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 Kelly goes to Toys R US to buy her youngest sister a present, and goes to the doll section. Tiffany wants a Bratz doll, but Kelly thinks they're way too slutty for a 10 year old. She bypasses those skanky looking Bratz and picks up a Street Walkin' Barbie instead. She buys two, one for Tiff, and one for some poor little girl whose family can't afford Christmas presents and who will LOVE a Barbie.

*

Hannah purchases her toy drive toy online at the same time as she orders the Baby Einstein Preschool Prep Puppets for Nicholas Andrew. It's never too early to foster good learning habits in children, and Nicholas Andrew is nearly one. If she wants him in a good preschool at two, she has to start now.  Hannah figures a low-income mother might appreciate the puppets for her child, so she orders an extra set for the toy drive.

*

Angela hates everything she sees in the toy store, so she goes to Borders instead. She finds a pristine copy of The Hobbit, a book one of her coworkers (she can hardly remember which) told her was well written and enjoyable.

*

 Stanley's wife, Terri, does most of the Christmas shopping, so she picks up a nice 3D puzzle for the toy drive while buying presents for the nieces and nephews. Stanley donates that, and also the Justin Timberlake CD that was meant for Melissa, whose music habits drive Stanley up the wall. He figures some other father can hear Justin a dozen times a day.

*

Toby is doing his Christmas shopping when he accidentally wanders into the baby aisle at Target. He sees a 'popcorn popper' with a brightly colored handle, the exact kind Sasha had when she learned to walk. He smiles faintly at the memory of her staggering around the house, making a pop-pop-pop sound everywhere she went. After he moved out, his apartment was too quiet. He buys the popper with a smile on his face.

*

Andy buys a plastic guitar and rocks out in the store with it. A mother pulls her child away from him. Andy doesn't notice. He's busy remembering how he and a couple of buddies talked about starting a band at Cornell, where they went to college.

* 

Meredith takes Jake shopping for a gift for Wendy.  Money is tight, so she tells him he can spend $30 on his sister's gift. He chooses a DVD that he knows she wants. It costs $20 and he asks if maybe they could buy a toy for the toy drive with the extra $10. Meredith is surprised. She doesn't even remember telling him about it. He chooses a toy truck for a little boy, and Meredith thinks that maybe she got the good kid after all.

*

Karen stops by a drugstore on the way to work on the day of the party. It's been so crazy with moving that she hasn't had much of a chance to go shopping. She finds a cool looking squirt gun right away, and grabs it.

*

Kevin goes shopping with Stacy, and she leaves him in the toy store to choose a gift. She goes shopping in the rest of the mall, and returns three hours later to find him still playing video games. She finally convinces him to leave after promising that the video game might end up under the tree. They buy a toy on the way out, and Stacy makes sure it's something he won't want to keep.

*

Ryan goes in the store; he gazes wistfully at the Xboxes. He buys a small, relatively cheap handheld video game and contemplates keeping it. He keeps it.  

 *

Phyllis goes all out this year. She's had a wonderful year, so she decides to 'pay it forward' like one of her favorite movies suggests. She and Bob decide to sponsor an anonymous needy family from church, and she buys two gifts for the toy drive, one for a little girl, and one for a little boy. She picks out a nice cuddly doll and stuffed dragon.

*

Dwight doesn't believe in spending funds on people who are unable to get a proper job, but he does think that children deserve a Christmas. He digs around his cellar and finds one of his old toy tanks that his grandvater had given him. He dusts it off, it'll do nicely.

*

Creed buys nothing. It's nice of the poor kids to donate toys to the hard workers at Dunder Mifflin.

*

Jim does his shopping late one night before Christmas. He hasn't told anyone how excited he is to buy a toy; he's waiting for his older sister to make him an uncle, so the toy-buying can be a regular occurance. He wanders the aisles at Toys R Us, and almost can't make up his mind. He finally spots a paint set that comes in a wooden case with brushes and paper, and an image pops in his mind of a little girl painting on a rainy day. He decides that this will be perfect.

*

Pam goes shopping without deciding what it is she's looking for. She initally picks up a teddy bear, but decides she wants something a little more exciting. She holds onto the bear as she walks up and down the toy aisles at Target.  She likes the idea of buying something that a kid could use at any age, and she spots a Spiderman Nerf basketball set. She sets down the bear and picks up the nerf set. She thinks there must be a lot of boys out there who like superheroes and basketball, though she finds it funny that Spiderman is on a basketball backboard because really, what does Spiderman have to do with basketball? She snickers aloud, and some woman gives her a sidelong glance. Pam wants to tell her what she was thinking, but then she remembers that few people find such humor in things.

*

Michael freaks out a bit, because he's spent a good portion of his savings on the tropical paradise that is Sandals Jamaica. He worries about the toy drive until he climbs in his car that morning and spots his old bike. He just KNOWS that he will have the biggest and the best present, because what kid wouldn't want a bike for Christmas? He had certainly wanted one the year he was twelve, when he got this bike.