Toys For Tots December 2023

Frederick Walton - 2/27/2024

The VFW Calabash Post 7288 presented a check for $1,000 to The U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program.  Post commander Mike Dichiara, Auxiliary President Wayne Weszka and  Quartermaster Jackie Ness presented checks to Rich Dye and Bob Krut of Brunswick Plantation’s "Be an Angel Committee", on behalf of , Robin Sadle, Toys for Tots Regional Director for Brunswick County. In addition to the generous donation from VFW Calabash Post 7288, individual VFW and Auxiliary members donated nearly 200 toys. The VFW post partnered with the "To Be an Angel Committee" who teams each Holiday Season, with the Toys for Tots program, in the collection Toys throughout the Calabash area. They noted that the contribution of VFW Calabash Post 7288 made the VFW  a record breaking leader in Brunswick County.  
 

The U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is directed by the Commander of the Marine Forces Reserve and staff consisting of approximately 40,000 Marines stationed at over 150 Reserve Unit Sites across the country.

Local campaigns are conducted annually in over 800 communities covering all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. To cover all these diverse communities, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation works with Marine Corps League Detachments and Local Community Organizations, generally veteran Marines, located in communities without a Marine Reserve Center. In 2022 the local Toys for Tot Program, serving Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen Counties, distributed 40,898 toys to 8,767 local children. 

Toys for Tots began in 1947 as the brain child of Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks and his wife, Diane. Wanting to provide a few handcrafted dolls to underprivileged children and finding no established program to do this, they started their own.Fellow Marines in Bill's reserve unit in LA, collected and distributed 5,000 toys in 1947.
Seeing such a successful community project in 1947, the Commandant directed all Marine Reserve Sites to implement a Toys for Tots  campaign, transforming it into a national community action program in 1948. As a personal friend and as a favor to Bill, Walt Disney designed the first Toys for Tots poster which included a miniature three-car train that was subsequently adopted as the Toys for Tots logo.

Marine Toys for Tots is more than a Christmastime charity —They are a year-round force for good. The Program provides hope and emotional support to economically disadvantaged children throughout the year — whenever it’s needed most. Because needs aren’t seasonal, and neither is Toys for Tots. To find out more about this valuable community program, visit their website: https://www. toysfortots.org.




 

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