Santa's elves may have a couple of weeks left before their big deadline, but time is drawing closer for the inmates of the Missouri River Correctional Center repairing toys for the Tribune's Playpen project.

In its 16th year, the Playpen collects used toys to be fixed and cleaned by the inmates. They are then given to the Salvation Army's Joy Shop, where families next week will choose toys to place under their tree.

Although Friday is the last day for toy donations, Bobette Miller of the Tribune's advertising department said money to fix the toys and buy some new ones would be a great help to the project.

Miller said this year has seen a decrease in funds but an increase in toys balanced the deficit.

She said only half of the money usually raised for Playpen came in this year.

Steve Renner is a corrections officer at the Missouri River Correctional Center and in charge of work crews for the Playpen. Toy donations are up about 30 percent from last year, he said.

"We have enough stuff to be busy through the deliveries and have a bunch of stuff left," he said.

The Salvation Army has already received five or six loads of toys - half a gym full, they said - and there's three or four more truck loads to deliver. Leftovers will be donated to other area charitable organizations.

To make any repairs or replacements on the toys, Renner said, more money is a must. Although local businesses have donated parts for bikes, it's expensive to bring more than 500 bikes up to par.

Right now, his main focus is getting toys ready for delivery. His goal is for the inmates to finish about 100 bikes a day.

"It's just hard to keep up with the quantity because we're trying to push out a quantity," he said.

Kara Dodds, the director of the Salvation Army's Bismarck community center, expects at least 300 families to get toys at the Joy Shop. She says she's sure they'll be pleased with the pickings, especially with more large toys to choose from.

"The families will be really excited because we don't get a lot of those with the new gifts, and some don't even look used. It will really brighten children's' holidays."