thedrifter
12-16-06, 07:03 AM
12/15/2006
Marines join Phillies firefighters to deliver 1,200 toys to area youth
Sarah Fleener , sfleener@pottsmerc.com
POTTSTOWN -- Members of the Phillies Fire Company had their eyes to the sky Thursday morning. But squint as they may, it was difficult to see who they were looking for. Was it Santa and his eight tiny reindeer?
No, but close.
It was the Marines from the Willow Grove Joint Reserve Base coming to deliver a cargo helicopter full of "Toys for Tots" gifts.
Santa himself, with the help of fire company members, beat the Marines to the Pottstown Airport. "We have lots of confidence in Major Dave," Santa said in the fog. "He’s got all that technology on board. Santa only has Rudolph for this kind of weather."
You could hear the Marines before you could see them. "Whop, whop, whop" sounded the largest helicopter in the free world, the CH-53 Super Stallion. Piloting the aircraft was Maj. Dave Stockman, a Marine with aircraft group 49 and a Phillies volunteer firefighter.
The Marines and the Phillies combined their efforts to deliver more than 1,200 toys to 650 children in the Pottstown area.
"We didn’t cube out the helicopter, but we filled it up," said Stockman, as dozens of people pitched in to fill the trucks donated by Total Rental of Douglassville.
"That’s a lot of toys to drive back and forth, so what we do is fill up our helicopter. It’s a cargo transport aircraft, and we just fly from airport to airport to deliver the toys," Stockman said.
The toys come from a Toys for Tots warehouse, which area merchants collect for and donate to.
"All the toys and all the money donated here in Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties stays here in Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties," said Stockman, whose Marine unit serves those areas.
Once the toys are off the helicopter and back at the firehouse, the Phillies will separate the toys and deliver them to local agencies, including The Salvation Army and the Cluster of Religious Communities, said Charlie Pierce, president of the Phillies Fire Company.
"There are some expensive toys in there, which is great!" said Dave Hicks, the Phillies fireman who coordinated the event. "It’s not just footballs and coloring books. We have everything from toys for infants to up to 18 years old."
Another group that is gifting away the toys in the Pottstown Moose Lodge. Members hold a Christmas party every year for more than 60 fostered and underprivileged children, said lodge member James L. Frymoyer Sr.
"These children don’t get what our children get," Frymoyer said. "They are coming from homes that are lost or broken and this is to bring the Christmas spirit back into their lives."
"The bottom line to the whole thing is the caring, the sharing, the loving and the giving which makes sure people have what they need," Frymoyer said. "With the help of the Phillies Fire Company and the Marines, we’re able to do what we do."
Ellie
Marines join Phillies firefighters to deliver 1,200 toys to area youth
Sarah Fleener , sfleener@pottsmerc.com
POTTSTOWN -- Members of the Phillies Fire Company had their eyes to the sky Thursday morning. But squint as they may, it was difficult to see who they were looking for. Was it Santa and his eight tiny reindeer?
No, but close.
It was the Marines from the Willow Grove Joint Reserve Base coming to deliver a cargo helicopter full of "Toys for Tots" gifts.
Santa himself, with the help of fire company members, beat the Marines to the Pottstown Airport. "We have lots of confidence in Major Dave," Santa said in the fog. "He’s got all that technology on board. Santa only has Rudolph for this kind of weather."
You could hear the Marines before you could see them. "Whop, whop, whop" sounded the largest helicopter in the free world, the CH-53 Super Stallion. Piloting the aircraft was Maj. Dave Stockman, a Marine with aircraft group 49 and a Phillies volunteer firefighter.
The Marines and the Phillies combined their efforts to deliver more than 1,200 toys to 650 children in the Pottstown area.
"We didn’t cube out the helicopter, but we filled it up," said Stockman, as dozens of people pitched in to fill the trucks donated by Total Rental of Douglassville.
"That’s a lot of toys to drive back and forth, so what we do is fill up our helicopter. It’s a cargo transport aircraft, and we just fly from airport to airport to deliver the toys," Stockman said.
The toys come from a Toys for Tots warehouse, which area merchants collect for and donate to.
"All the toys and all the money donated here in Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties stays here in Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties," said Stockman, whose Marine unit serves those areas.
Once the toys are off the helicopter and back at the firehouse, the Phillies will separate the toys and deliver them to local agencies, including The Salvation Army and the Cluster of Religious Communities, said Charlie Pierce, president of the Phillies Fire Company.
"There are some expensive toys in there, which is great!" said Dave Hicks, the Phillies fireman who coordinated the event. "It’s not just footballs and coloring books. We have everything from toys for infants to up to 18 years old."
Another group that is gifting away the toys in the Pottstown Moose Lodge. Members hold a Christmas party every year for more than 60 fostered and underprivileged children, said lodge member James L. Frymoyer Sr.
"These children don’t get what our children get," Frymoyer said. "They are coming from homes that are lost or broken and this is to bring the Christmas spirit back into their lives."
"The bottom line to the whole thing is the caring, the sharing, the loving and the giving which makes sure people have what they need," Frymoyer said. "With the help of the Phillies Fire Company and the Marines, we’re able to do what we do."
Ellie