PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Marine Corps reservists everywhere are collecting toys to help less fortunate children experience the joy of Christmas throughout the United States. The Toys for Tots program is conducted locally, here at Picatinny Arsenal, with the help of the installation's local community.
During the months of November and December, new, unwrapped toys are collected and distributed as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the communities where the campaign is conducted.
In the past, Marine Corps Reservists here at Picatinny Arsenal collected more than 72,000 toys which were distributed to the local community.
The Marines of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Corps Regiment ask that all toys contributed be new and unwrapped and that no stuffed animals be dropped off.
Once the toys are collected in a warehouse they are sorted so that they would be appropriate for the age and gender of children. Later, the toys are distributed to needy families that have requested support.
At Picatinny Arsenal, the drop-off point for collected toys is at the Visitor Center, which is on the left once visitors get on the exit ramp for the installation. The final day for collection is Dec. 18.
For more information please visit the national website http://www.toysfortots.org/ which will then lead you to regional selections where you can find out how to make contributions in your local area.
While Toys for Tots coordinators organize, coordinate and manage the campaign, the ultimate success depends on the support of the local community and the generosity of the people who donate toys.
Local business leaders play key roles. They allow coordinators to locate drop-off/collection boxes in their stores; provide free warehouse space for storing and sorting toys during October, November and December; provide vehicles to collect toys from drop-off sites; sponsor toy raising events; and help coordinators arrange media exposure for Toys for Tots in the local community.
Toys for Tots began in 1947 when Maj. Bill Hendricks and a group of Marine Corps Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The idea came from Hendrick's wife, Diane. In the fall of 1947, Diane handcrafted a Raggedy Ann doll and asked him to deliver the doll to an organization, which would give it to a needy child at Christmas.
When Hendrick's determined that no agency existed, Diane told him that he should start one. He did. The 1947 pilot project was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted Toys For Tots in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign. That year Marine Corps Reserve Units across the nation conducted Toys For Tots campaigns in each community in which a Marine Reserve Center was located.
The Marines have conducted successful campaigns at Christmas each year since 1948. In the late 1980's, the Marine Corps determined that a non-profit charity was needed as an integral part of the overall Toys For Tots program. Based on this need, the Secretary Of Defense, in August 1991 authorized the Marine Corps to recognize and work with a charity committed to supporting Toys For Tots.
Based on this approval, the Marine Toys For Tots Foundation became an operational organization in September 1991 and has been the fundraising and support organization for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Toys For Tots Program since that date.
In 1995, the Secretary Of Defense approved Toys For Tots as an official activity of the U.S. Marine Corps and an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserves. In 1996, the Commander, Marine Corps Reserve expanded Toys For Tots to cover all 50 states by authorizing selected Marine Corps League Detachments and selected local community organizations (generally veteran Marines) located in communities without a Marine Reserve Center to conduct toy collections and distribution campaigns in their communities as part of U.S. Marine Corps Toys For Tots Program.
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