The transit strike has made it harder for donated toys to get under the Christmas trees of Ottawa's poorest children.

Toy Mountain, a program run by the Salvation Army, collects new, unwrapped toys from donors, sorts them into packages based on age and gender, and expects to distribute them to 11,000 children in the Ottawa region this year.

But the 4,800 families who have signed up with the charity need to pick up their stuffed animals, action figures, puzzles, picture books and other presents from City Centre, an industrial complex near Preston and Somerset Streets that is far from most of the city's low-income housing.

Salvation Army spokesman Michael Maidment said the location is usually easy to get to because it's surrounded by transit routes — when there isn't a strike. Unfortunately, about 2,300 Ottawa transit drivers, dispatchers and maintenance staff walked off the job on Dec. 10, leaving many families without transportation.

Kelly Palumbo had planned to arrive by public transit to collect some gifts for her kids. When that didn't work out, she arranged with a neighbour to come by car on Monday, but she worries about other families.

"For the families that aren't lucky enough to have a ride to get here, what are they supposed to do? They can't afford cabs to get here," she said.

Maidment said the number of families who have registered with the charity this year is at an all-time high, up 20 per cent from last year.

Dec. 23 deadline for toy pickup

"Christmas is so important for these families, you know, who just don't have enough to go around, don't have enough resources and money to pay the rent and to buy toys for their children," he said. "So having to put out that extra money for a taxi, for example, is probably really stressful for a lot of families."

Some agencies that work with low-income families have arranged for volunteers to collect the presents and distribute them closer to where the families live.

Donna Bekkers-Boyd was at City Centre on Monday to take some of the toys to Bayshore Catholic School for neighbourhood families to pick up.

"To just, you know, alleviate that worry for them," she said.

Families have until Dec. 23 to pick up the donated toys. No talks have been scheduled between the city and the transit union.