PDA

View Full Version : Marines fight for poor



thedrifter
12-11-05, 07:19 AM
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Marines fight for poor
Reserve corps' campaign in Indiana benefits Toys for Tots
By Harold J. Adams
hjadams@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Marines greeted shoppers yesterday at the Toys R Us store in River Falls Mall in Clarksville, Ind., for several hours, persuading passers-by to buy toys and donate them to the poor.

The Marine Corps Reserve's annual Toys for Tots campaign distributes the gifts through the Salvation Army to children in six Southern Indiana counties.

Cpl. Daniel Sanchez and Pvts. Michael Lohman and Andrew McMonigal made a quick pitch to everyone who entered the store while handing out a Toys for Tots sticker that would help them remember the cause as they shopped.

Blythe McPherson of Charlestown, Ind., was one of many people who placed new toys into the bin on the way out of the store.

"I have kids and I want my kids to have things, therefore I want other kids to have things as well," McPherson said.

Roy Wyatt of Jeffersonville, Ind., had a different reason for helping out. "I served in the Corps in Vietnam and I appreciate them being here," he said.

In just about five hours of work, the Marines coaxed enough toys to nearly fill a large van that later shuttled the goodies to the Salvation Army office in New Albany, Ind.

"It gives us a chance to help the local people serve the community," said Sanchez, who is from Oxnard, Calif.

Lohman, a Louisville resident, said: "It gets us out in the community. It gets us involved (and) it helps other people get involved, too."

McMonigal, a Bullitt East High School graduate, said, "I used to do this when I was younger in ROTC," back at school. "I like how the people jump in for kids."

The local Toys for Tots campaign is coordinated by Kentuckiana Detachment 279 of the Marine Corps League, an organization of retired Marines. League member John Peyton said the program helped more than 3,000 area children last year.

Toys collected in the Clarksville drive will go to children in Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Scott and Washington counties. The Toys for Tots bin will remain in Toys R Us through the rest of the shopping season. The store also accepts cash donations.

Ellie