Muslims don’t celebrate Christmas, but that didn’t keep one Muslim family in Lawrence from donating a toy Saturday to the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots drive.

Thanks to Rubana Mahjabeen, her husband, A.A. Mamun, and their 2-year-old son, Samin, a child in Douglas County won’t be without a gift under the Christmas tree this year.

Rubana and her family stopped by the Dole Institute of Politics Saturday and dropped off a remote-controlled toy car for the toy drive. The car was one of many gifts Rubana said her son had received for a birthday and the Muslim holy period of Ramadan.

“He’s got a lot of gifts, and we just felt like it was better to share with others,” said Mahjabeen, a Kansas University student from Bangladesh.

Nearly 600 toys were donated in the one-day toy drive at the center, said Marine Maj. Bill Howell, a Dole Institute assistant. The goal had been 500.

“This went really well and it was only organized about two weeks ago,” Howell said. “Douglas County Toys for Tots wants to thank everybody.”

By 3 p.m. toys ranging from a box of Lincoln Logs to teddy bears were crowded along one side of the Dole Institute auditorium.

Some people contributed cash and checks instead of toys; the total cash take was $300, Howell said.

Ed Neely and his three children watched the Eldridge Hotel Old Fashioned Christmas Parade downtown Saturday morning and then decided to buy a tape recorder and microphone to bring to the toy drive.

Michael Gates, 6, tosses in a present while his brother David, 3, waits his turn. Michael and David came with their father, Scott Gates, to donate presents to Toys for Tots on Saturday at the Dole Institute of Politics.

At the Dole Institute, Neely, daughters Amber, 14, Allison, 12, and son Isaac, 4, enjoyed a free lunch provided by Hy-Vee grocery stores for those who made donations.

“We thought maybe we could help some kid who is underprivileged have a nice Christmas,” Neely said. “It’s so everybody can have a gift.”

The names of those who contributed toys were collected and a drawing for prizes were conducted at the end of the day. The winners:

• Paul Krider, Lawrence, two round-trip Frontier Airline tickets.
• Durand Reiber, Lawrence, two round-trip Mesa Airlines tickets.

Donations of new, unwrapped toys are being taken at the Dole Institute of Politics on Kansas University’s west campus; Hy-Vee stores; Wal-Mart, 3300 Iowa; Best Buy, 31st and Iowa streets; and McGrew Real Estate Inc., 1501 Kasold Drive.

• Kristen Zane, Overland Park, $100 gift certificate from Best Buy.
• Carol Taylor, Lawrence, one year of free basic cable from Sunflower Broadband.
• Scottie Lingelbach, Lawrence, six months of free Internet access from Sunflower Broadband.
• Marty Patton, Lawrence, free bagels for a year from Einstein Bros. Bagels.
• Virginia Minnis, Lawrence, a parental Internet access control from Griffin Technology.