We all walk by them every year. The barrels with the Toys for Tots signs on them. Sometimes we drop something in, sometimes it just seems like we have so many other things to do. I have always wondered about how the Marine Corps got involved in collecting toys for children. It seems that in 1947 a lovely Marine wife made a Raggedy Ann doll and asked her Marine Reservist husband, Major Bill Hendricks to deliver it to an organization that gave to needy children at Christmas. The Major discovered that there was not agency in existence, so he started one. That first year saw collection and delivery of over 5,000 toys in the LA area. The next year the Corps formally adopted the program and it became nationwide. It was not until 1995 that TFT became an offical activity of the Corps and the official mission of the reserves. Over 370 million toys to more than 173 million children have been given to needy children over the last 59 years.
So Marine up and donate a toy and maybe help bring a smile to a kid this season.
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