Toys For Tots, an organization to collect new, unwrapped toys during the winter season is now asking students from schools around Calif. to donate gifts, as Christmas presents, for children that cannot afford to do so themselves.
The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate children that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive and patriotic citizens.
Toys for Tots began in 1947, when Major Bill Hendricks USCR and a group of Marine Reservists in L.A. collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The idea originally came form Bill?s wife, Diane Hendricks.
In the fall of 1947, Diane crafted a homemade doll and asked Hendricks to deliver the doll to an organization, which would give it to a needy child at Christmas. From 1947 through 1979, Marines collected and distributed new and used toys.
The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help less fortunate children throughout the U.S., experience the joy of Christmas and to play an active role in the development of one of our nation?s most valuable resources; our children.
The program is meant to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection. They also aim to contribute to better communities in the future.
High school secretary Vicky Belmont believes Toys for Tots is a good program for the school to be a part of.
“It allows people to reach out to the community and to be able to do something to help those less fortunate than themselves,” Belmont said, “But it?s a pity that we are only expected to give for one season. We should give and love every day.”
Sophomore Jason Swain appreciates Toys for Tots and the joy it brings to many. Swain
“I think Toys for Tots is a good idea because it spreads wealth and shares the love of God to people who are less fortunate than others,” Swain said. “Well I haven’t actually participated in it myself I’ve seen them collecting toys in shopping centers all over the place.”
For more information about donating a gift to Toys for Tots, visit their website.
