This fall, the Toys For Tots Foundation is accepting donations of toys to distribute to children newborn to age 14 for families who fill out applications for toys throughout counties in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee.
The Toys For Tots Foundation, created by the Marine Corps Reserve, is a non-profit organization. Beginning in Bolivar, Tennessee, in 1946, it gained popularity and stretched to include many other counties in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.
The foundation is run locally by either Marine Corps Reserve units or, if there are not any in the area, by volunteers and/or retired marines who fill in.
Lindsey Chrestmen, assistant coordinator for the Mississippi counties, volunteers her time to help coordinate the processes of getting the toys to the children.
“Our goal is to instill in those children hope for a brighter future,” Chrestmen said.
When Toys For Tots began, Lafayette County was originally not one of the counties covered, and, in recent years, Toys For Tots started accepting applicants from Lafayette County.
“That’s how we ended up with Oxford,” Chrestmen said. “There was a need, and people were reaching out to us, and so, we tried to fill that need, and, once we accepted them, we started reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, people here need help. Help us help them.’”
Chrestmen said something unique about Toys For Tots is that they keep what is raised in the community within that community.
“One thing the foundation requires us to do is to try and keep everything local,” Chrestmen said. “Everything that’s raised in Arkansas is going to stay in Arkansas. Everything raised in a county will stay in a county.”
Gene Hays, a Marine Corps League volunteer, said when people decide to donate to Toys For Tots, it is best to remember the organization covers a wide age group and that a variety of toys are needed.
“Most toys we receive are for the middle ages of children,” Hays said. “Sometimes, the infants don’t get quite enough, and then the older ones near 14 don’t get quite enough.”
The toys will continue to be collected until Dec. 15, at which point the toys will be assigned to different applicants and taken to designated distribution points.
Donations of toys and money can be mailed to the foundation; the mailing address can be found on the organization’s website.
