Toys For Tots 2019
By Thomas Morrone, CFP®, CPA
The U.S. Marine Corps has long valued the strong ties binding Community, Country and Corps and continually strives to strengthen the connection between America’s Marines and the public it serves through community engagement. Established in 1947, Toys for Tots is the U.S. Marine Corps’ premiere community action program and America’s most popular Children’s Christmastime Charity. It is the combined efforts of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Their mission today is the same as it was in 1947: to bring the joy of Christmas to America’s less fortunate children. Toys for Tots is a National program with a local touch. There are nearly 800 local toy collection and distribution programs in most major market areas in all 50 states, DC, & U.S. Territories which distributes an annual average of 18 million toys to 7 million children-in-need.
My sister in law Joan and her husband Rick, have generously offered their home, for the fourth year in a row, as one of the numerous toy collection locations in the country. Our firm, and more importantly our generous clients, “piggy backed” on Joan and Rick’s efforts. Our office acted as an additional Toys for Tots donation location. Through social media, emails, phone calls and word of mouth, this year’s coordinated efforts yielded in excess of 400 toys.
We are grateful and thank our clients for their generosity and compassion for contributing to such a wonderful cause. We thank Joan and Rick for all that they did not just that day but for the weeks and months beforehand preparing for the toy drive. The coordinated efforts from key people resulted in many children having gifts under their Christmas Tree this year that may have had a different outcome if not for the Toys for Tots program. It easy to not do something and harder to act. In this scenario, the efforts of so many generous people truly bring tears to my eyes. We sometimes take for granted we drive to the store or go online and buy what we want when we want it. For many people, they can only buy what they need when they need it. For some families, it is hard enough to stay warm in the winter and have food on the table. The Toys for Tots programs closes those gaps between needs and wants for the parents and their children. Their holidays are a little more joyful, the parents see the happiness and excitement of their children playing with their new toy, reading their new book or putting together the puzzle. That is a small part of what the holidays are about to some families, but it is everything to others.
This holiday season, when you see the smiling faces of your loved ones as they open whatever Santa has left under the tree, think of all the children and their parents that are smiling as a result of the Toys for Tots program.
Happy Holidays to all and thank you again to Joan and Rick and to our generous clients for making this years’ toy drive such a success. To learn more about the program, click on the link that follows.
Until the Next Tom’s Take...
Tracking #1-928797
