thedrifter
12-26-08, 07:33 AM
Marines battle, get toys to tots
Tough times, but victory declared
By Merritt Melancon | merritt.melancon@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:13 pm on 12/25/2008
Why send in the Marines to collect Christmas toys for children in need?
Because when the pressure's on, they know how to get the job done.
The Athens-area toy drive was a success this year, despite a sour economy and a surge of children in need. They cut it close, but the contingent of Marines and Navy ensigns who put together this year's Toys for Tots collection finished the drill.
"If we didn't meet our goal of 30,000 toys this year, we were very close," said Master Sgt. Arnold Rendon, who organized this year's toy drive. "I know that we were able to fill all of our requests for toys. I know that every child got something for Christmas."
Facing a record number of requests for toys and a decline in the number of donations, Rendon worried through most of December that some children in his nine-county coverage area would have to go without this year.
By mid-December, the Marines had collected only about one-third of the toys they needed to meet their goal of giving two toys to each needy child. Just a week before Christmas, they still only had 19,000 of the 30,000 toys they needed.
But just days before Christmas, the toys started to pour in, Rendon said.
"It's just amazing," he said, after picking up the last of the donated toys from area dropoff points. "I hit all the Publix stores and all the Wal-Marts today, and everywhere I went the bins were overflowing, and they had more than one bin of toys waiting for us.
"People are just so generous," Rendon said. "And even today, when I was picking up toys, one guy gave me a check for $200. I had another guy call me over the weekend and said he had some toys for me. When I went to pick it up, he had a whole truckload - about 2,000 toys. It was good stuff, too."
Toys collected by Toys for Tots were distributed directly to families and to nonprofits in Athens and surrounding counties. Each organization reported an increase in requests this year, and Toys for Tots was an integral part of helping them to meet the increased applications.
"Without the Toys for Tots toys that we got this year, we wouldn't have been able to serve as many families as we did," said Michelle Walker, a volunteer who helped coordinate the Barrow County Holiday Connection Holiday Store, where parents in need can pick out toys for their children. "I don't think we would have been able to do the store this year without the donations from Toys for Tots."
About 2,200 families used the Christmas store this year, 600 more than last year and donations were way down, Walker said.
Barrow County Holiday Connection never had to turn to Toys for Tots for help before this year, she said.
With a harrowing collection season behind them and the last of the toys dropped off on Tuesday, Rendon and the 30 or so volunteers who have helped collect and distribute the toys planned to go out for beer and pizza to celebrate their victory.
But even as they celebrated, they wondered who would take over the Toys for Tots drive next year. They need to hand the program over to an Athens-area civic group to ensure that it continues in Northeast Georgia, Rendon said.
Fewer Marines will remain in town to spearhead the toy drive as the soon-to-close U.S. Navy Supply Corps School on Prince Avenue gradually transfers personnel to the school's new home in Rhode Island.
"If nobody steps up, we're going to do it again next year," Rendon said. "But I don't know how long there will be enough Marines here to organize the program. A lot of the Marines at the Navy school will be moving over the next few years."
Rendon has been in touch with a few civic groups who have expressed some interest in running the drive, but has not received any firm commitments.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, December 26, 2008
Ellie
Tough times, but victory declared
By Merritt Melancon | merritt.melancon@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:13 pm on 12/25/2008
Why send in the Marines to collect Christmas toys for children in need?
Because when the pressure's on, they know how to get the job done.
The Athens-area toy drive was a success this year, despite a sour economy and a surge of children in need. They cut it close, but the contingent of Marines and Navy ensigns who put together this year's Toys for Tots collection finished the drill.
"If we didn't meet our goal of 30,000 toys this year, we were very close," said Master Sgt. Arnold Rendon, who organized this year's toy drive. "I know that we were able to fill all of our requests for toys. I know that every child got something for Christmas."
Facing a record number of requests for toys and a decline in the number of donations, Rendon worried through most of December that some children in his nine-county coverage area would have to go without this year.
By mid-December, the Marines had collected only about one-third of the toys they needed to meet their goal of giving two toys to each needy child. Just a week before Christmas, they still only had 19,000 of the 30,000 toys they needed.
But just days before Christmas, the toys started to pour in, Rendon said.
"It's just amazing," he said, after picking up the last of the donated toys from area dropoff points. "I hit all the Publix stores and all the Wal-Marts today, and everywhere I went the bins were overflowing, and they had more than one bin of toys waiting for us.
"People are just so generous," Rendon said. "And even today, when I was picking up toys, one guy gave me a check for $200. I had another guy call me over the weekend and said he had some toys for me. When I went to pick it up, he had a whole truckload - about 2,000 toys. It was good stuff, too."
Toys collected by Toys for Tots were distributed directly to families and to nonprofits in Athens and surrounding counties. Each organization reported an increase in requests this year, and Toys for Tots was an integral part of helping them to meet the increased applications.
"Without the Toys for Tots toys that we got this year, we wouldn't have been able to serve as many families as we did," said Michelle Walker, a volunteer who helped coordinate the Barrow County Holiday Connection Holiday Store, where parents in need can pick out toys for their children. "I don't think we would have been able to do the store this year without the donations from Toys for Tots."
About 2,200 families used the Christmas store this year, 600 more than last year and donations were way down, Walker said.
Barrow County Holiday Connection never had to turn to Toys for Tots for help before this year, she said.
With a harrowing collection season behind them and the last of the toys dropped off on Tuesday, Rendon and the 30 or so volunteers who have helped collect and distribute the toys planned to go out for beer and pizza to celebrate their victory.
But even as they celebrated, they wondered who would take over the Toys for Tots drive next year. They need to hand the program over to an Athens-area civic group to ensure that it continues in Northeast Georgia, Rendon said.
Fewer Marines will remain in town to spearhead the toy drive as the soon-to-close U.S. Navy Supply Corps School on Prince Avenue gradually transfers personnel to the school's new home in Rhode Island.
"If nobody steps up, we're going to do it again next year," Rendon said. "But I don't know how long there will be enough Marines here to organize the program. A lot of the Marines at the Navy school will be moving over the next few years."
Rendon has been in touch with a few civic groups who have expressed some interest in running the drive, but has not received any firm commitments.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, December 26, 2008
Ellie