The Marines of Utah's Dixie Detachment 1270 have landed and
the toys are well in hand.
The annual Toys for Tots drive concluded Thursday, December
24, 2015 with the distribution of nearly 14,000 toys and over 4,100 books in
St. George and surrounding Southern Utah. Last year over 13,000 toys were distributed to families. It
is estimated that over 14,000 toys will be given to over 3,400 children. This year is the 9th year the Toys for Tots program has been
supported by the Utah Dixie Detachment #1270, Marine Corps League.
According to Rick Massey (Retired USMC GySgt) and Southern
Utah Area Coordinator, besides the over 300 families in the Toys for Tots
program, they also provide toys for 1,540 in the Coins for Kids program, 140 to
the Learning Center, Switch Point, Dove Center, Arron Kimball Facility and the
Children's Justice Center.
Marine Corps League members and many other volunteers
contributed over 3,000 man hours to the program. Also, 120 businesses within
Washington County support the program. Once the toys are collected they are inventoried and set up
in a “store format” so volunteers can take shopping carts (on loan) and fill
the request. They are then checked for accuracy and bagged with the proper name
and address and staged for distribution.
Then a few days before Christmas, trucks and cars line up
and are filled to capacity for distribution to awaiting families. Every year
the Marine Corps League and several volunteers delivers toys right up to
December 24th and include Christmas Day.
“Marines on duty 24/7”
Toys for Tots is an annual national program
supported by the
Marine Corps Reserve
and Marine Corps League Detachments across the country.
It
began in 1947 in Los Angeles and went national
three years later in 1950.
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