Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
This years, Toys for Tots, under the direction of Robert and Danna Lopez, representing the Marine Corps League Detachment 1328, again led the organizational aspects of receiving donations, monetary and toys, to give gifts, out to children who might have otherwise received no gifts for the Christmas holiday. A dedicated group of volunteers helps with all the logistics, including sorting the gifts by age group and male and female, to match the requests from parents. Then the volunteers bag up the items by alphabetical names and prepare to hand out the gifts as the families arrive.
Mr and Mrs. Santa Claus (shhhh - don't tell the kids) are portrayed by Joe Nerling and Janet Hess, with their sidekick Elf Olga Sarli. They great the families as they arrive and volunteers bring their bagged gifts to each family.
Toys for Tots remains committed to its promise to bring each child that may be experiencing his or her own troubles the joy and hope of Christmas.
In 2024, Toys for Tots local campaigns and Marine Corps Reserve units collected over $17 million in monetary donations, and distributed 30 million toys, books, and games to over 13 million children throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
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