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thedrifter
12-10-08, 08:48 AM
Marines fear they won't have enough gifts for kids as economic crunch slows donations
by Kristen Alloway/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday December 09, 2008, 6:35 AM

The handwritten sign taped to the window in an office park in Rockaway Township says it all: "Toys for Tots warehouse is temporarily closed due to lack of donations."

The annual North Jersey Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign is well under way this year, and with the economy tanking and job losses mounting, the Marines are concerned they won't be able to meet every request for a new toy this holiday season.

"The volunteers said they're not getting as many (toys) when they go to the locations to do the pickups," said First Sgt. Kevin Mac Cheyne, coordinator for the program in North Jersey. "We don't have enough toys to give out to the number of people who are requesting them. ... We're getting more individual family requests from people who lost their jobs."

Although the Marines were not able to estimate how many toys they are short compared to previous years, last year the campaign handed out 95,000 toys in Morris, Essex, Sussex, Warren, Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties. They expect to give out at least that many, if not more, this year.

Early December typically can be a slow time for donations -- most folks who contribute don't start to think about it for another week, MacCheyne said. The Marines are hoping donations will continue to come in, especially at collections being held at three big sporting events -- Devils, Nets and Giants games -- in coming weeks.

"There's toys out there. Hopefully, they'll come in," he said. "But we still need more."

The Marines collect new, unwrapped toys for infants, toddlers, school-age children and teens up to age 15 from October through Dec. 22. Toy requests from community organizations, social service agencies and houses of worship were made through early November.

Although the Marines had to reschedule a few recent toy pickups because they didn't have enough gifts (they did that last year, too), the warehouse in Rockaway Township was bustling yesterday as nonprofit groups came to get their requests.

Members of Canaan Missionary Baptist Church in Newark were there to pick up 200 toys for the children in its after-school mentoring program, called Face to Face.

"We had a little more this year. Little more children in need. It doesn't go down, it always goes up," church trustee James Tilghman said of the number of kids in need. "No doubt about it, with the difficult economy ... we're seeing more and more people asking for help."

He said the church's food pantry requests have doubled recently -- from 60 bags a week to 120 bags.

The Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign began in 1947, and since then the effort has distributed 370 million toys to 173 million children.

Toy drop-offs can be made at any Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores. Or visit toysfortots.org for information and other drop-off lo cations.

Ellie