Marines to make rounds to collect for Toys for Tots

Last year's program provided about 29,000 toys for 12,540 children.
VIENNA -- The deadline for donating toys to the Marine Corps Reserve's annual Toys for Tots Christmas program, run locally by the Marine Reserve Landing Support Equipment Co., is Dec. 19.
The goal for the 2003 campaign is 30,000 toys, slightly higher than the 2002 campaign in anticipation of increased need for assistance because of the weak economy and high unemployment in the community, said First Sgt. Jeffrey Moses, Tots for Toys coordinator.
The 2002 Toys for Tots program provided about 29,000 toys for 12,540 children in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties.
Collecting the items
Toys for Tots primarily receives toys from about 200 businesses in the Tri-County area that volunteer to be drop-off points. For individuals who want to donate toys, they should look for the large Toys for Tots sign in the businesses' windows. The sign has a gray background, "Toys for Tots" in red letters and a large Santa Claus with USMC on his bag.
Toys are also collected through fund-raisers conducted by business and civic organizations, Moses said.
"The program would not be a success without the volunteer support of the Tri-State Marine Corps League in Mahoning County and the Trumbull County Marine Corps League," Moses said.
The Salvation Army in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties, the Fish Samaritan House in Youngstown and the American Red Cross in Niles identify needy families and field requests for assistance, Moses said.
Toys for Tots also receives a boost from the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna, where the Marine Reserve unit is based, in the form of vehicles to pick up and distribute toys, saving the campaign $5,000, Moses said.
Spokesman, sponsor
Carl McConnell, who is on the staff of U.S. Representative Tim Ryan, D-17th, is spokesman for the local Toys for Tots campaign. The national sponsor for the 2003 campaign is country singer and television actor Billy Ray Cyrus.
The Marine Corps Toys for Tots program began in 1947 in Los Angeles, Calif., through the efforts of Major Bill Hendricks, when his wife, Diane, made a few Raggedy Ann dolls and asked him to deliver them to an organization which would give them to needy children.
When he told his wife that no such agency existed, she encouraged him to start one, which became Toys for Tots.
In civilian life, Hendricks was publicity director for Warner Bros. Studio, which enabled him to persuade a number of celebrities to support Toys for Tots.
In 1948, Walt Disney designed the Toys for Tots logo and the first Toys for Tots poster.
Notable spokesmen for the Toys for Tots program over the years included John Wayne, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, Charlton Heston, Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbara Bush.