For 75 years the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve has been the guiding light of the Toys for Tots program, locally serving over 3,000 families by delivering toys to make the Christmas dreams of less fortunate children come true.
Shaun Lewellyn, now the local coordinator for Ward, Renville and Mountrail counties, is responsible for collecting enough toys, or funding to help Toys for Tots reach its goal. “I have always been a believer, and a donator to Toys for Tots, but this year as coordinator I see the whole process a lot differently” says Lewellyn, differently in that the process of collecting toys at local donation boxes, transporting them to a central location and then distributing them to the families in a three county area is a massive undertaking. “I always need volunteers, and the more volunteers I have, the more children I can serve” says Lewellyn.
Lewellyn has already been lining up locations for the donation boxes, and recently was able to recruit the Downtown Business and Professional Association to help with the donation box locations in downtown Minot. As part of the DBPA, the Northern Sentry will also be a major sponsor providing public service announcements at no cost.
Toys for Tots began in 1947, when Diane Hendricks, the wife of Major Bill Hendricks of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, made a doll for a needy child to receive for Christmas. When the couple determined that no organization existed to provide the doll to a child, they started a campaign to provide toys to children. An IRS recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charity, it serves as the authorized fundraising and support organization for the Toys for Tots Program. We are not affiliated with any other local charities in the area, and according to Lewellyn “we are not able to identify which families get toys from which organizations. We do monitor if that if a family has requested toys from an organization such as a foster care, they can’t double dip so to speak as their names will be flagged.”
Last year, the Marine Toys for Tots Program fulfilled the Christmas holiday dreams of over 8 million less fortunate children. This year’s campaign runs from Oct 1-Dec 23, 2023. The accomplishment nationally for the Toys for Tots program were pretty impressive.
- Distributed over 24.4 million toys to 9.9 million children in need from 833 local campaigns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
- Since 1947, the program has distributed 652 million toys, books, and games to over 291 million children in need.
- Expanded year-round initiatives to include our Toys for Tots Literacy Program, Toys for Tots Native American Program, our Foster Care Initiative, and our partnership with Good360 to support children and families in need during uncertain and unstable times.
- This year space for the Toys for Tots central drop location is being donated by Trinity Health, but volunteers are needed to collect toys at the many drop box locations and transport them to that location.
Those looking to apply to receive toys can go the Toys for Tots web site toysfortots.org. “We deliver toys to kids ages 1 to 17” says Lewellyn “but we don’t deliver bikes, gas cards or household items. We are basically a “toys” program when it comes to donations, but the types of toys delivered certainly depends on the age of the child that receives the gift.”
For more information on Toys for Tots, people can email Shaun Lewellyn at minot.nd@toysfortots.org, or sentrysales@srt.com
