TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – “I always remember one year when a woman donated a minivan full of toys, gave me a big bear hug and with a tear rolling down her eyes thanked me. Because last year she needed help. That year she was able to give back. That is what it’s all about. That’s why we do it.”

That heartwarming story came from Mike Kent, who is co-coordinator of the Northwest Michigan Toys for Tots program that serves the counties of Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Antrim, Kalkaska and Benzie. Kent has been with the program for 25 years, starting out as the Marketing/PR person. His wife, Maggie, has been the coordinator for the past 15 years. In 2021, their program was responsible for delivering more than 35,000 toys for over 6,000 children via families who participated in holiday programs through 14 different human service agencies in their five-county service area.

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This year, the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is celebrating their 75th anniversary and the national organization couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments over the past seven-plus decades. The national program boasts delivering 627 million toys and supporting 281 million children since they started in 1947.

Their 832 coordinators throughout the United States are all volunteers and many of them are Marines who are giving back to their local communities. Toys for Tots is a top-rated charity with 97% of donated dollars going directly to the mission of providing toys, books and gifts to less fortunate children. The other 3% is used mostly to support fundraising costs and the national organization says, “not one donated dollar goes to salaries or any other manpower costs.”

The national program says about their anniversary, “Now, in our 75th year, the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program also provides year-round support to families experiencing challenges and exceptional circumstances, thus helping to fulfill the hopes and dreams of millions of families and children in need across our great nation. This anniversary year will provide opportunities to highlight the Marine Corps Reserve and the Toys for Tots Program on a national level with opportunities to share our rich history, heritage and the tremendous community support we receive each and every year.”

Toys for Tots originally began as a Los Angeles charity by Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, whose wife, Diane, wanted to donate a Raggedy Ann doll to a needy child but couldn’t find an organization to give the doll to. She suggested that her husband to get together a group of local Marine reservists to start their own thing and they ended up collecting about 5,000 toys for local kids with their collection bins that were placed outside of Warner Bros. movie theaters. That local effort went national the next year.

Hendricks, who was Director of Public Relations at Warner Bros. Studios, enlisted the help of the many celebrities that he knew to promote the national program across the country and it has become a huge success. Also, a little known trivia item…it was Walt Disney, because of a personal request from Hendricks, who designed the first Toys for Tots poster which included the miniature three-car train that was adopted as the Toys for Tots logo.

Originally, the Marines (often dressed in their dress blue uniforms) would collect and refurbish used toys, but by 1980 only new toys were accepted as reservists weren’t able to dedicate drill hours to refurbish toys and the program wanted to avoid giving out older, possibly recalled hand-me-down toys. Also, because there isn’t always a Marine reservist available in every area of the country to run a program, the organization allowed for other individuals and non-profit groups to coordinate their local Toys for Tots programs.

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The Kents are an example of that. They are not Marine Corps reservists but they respect those who are and are passionate about the program. They’ve had many challenges to deal with over the years including helping to re-start a neglected local program, the recession, recalled toys, the pandemic and being snowed in at the local Coast Guard Air Station, which is where they usually sort the toys that they collect.

It’s to be expected that dealing with winter storms is a staple in Michigan during “toy sorting season” which usually runs for three or four weekends, starting Thanksgiving weekend. However, one year, their usual group of about 20 toy sorting volunteers was only a group of nine – the board members who were already there setting up for the day, two volunteers and their three kids. The other volunteers weren’t able to get out of their neighborhoods and across town to help. It was an all-day sorting event that lasted about nine hours but it had to be done. The toys needed to be sorted and bagged for the agencies to pick up the following day.

Just like the Marines, there was a commitment to a common cause. Semper fidelis.

When asked about his local program Mike Kent said, “This is the 75th anniversary of the Marine Toys for Tots program. It has 800 campaigns in all 50 states. I’ve been around for 1/3 of them. Every year it blows me away with the generosity of our community. The first year we were involved we threw a campaign together in a little over a month, with none of us knowing what we were doing. Within three years we were part of the top Toys for Tots campaign in the country.”

He continued, “I would say one of the biggest challenges is knowing when to reach out for additional help during those greater times of need. We have to be careful. This is all about ‘Kids, Toys, and Christmas’…what’s not to love. When we explain to the community that we have greater need, the outpouring of support is remarkable, to the point that we get an abundance of donations. We have to be careful asking for additional support as a result of that. We want to meet the needs, but not at the expense of other organizations that serve the same community.”

So, with rising prices and the current economic conditions in Michigan and around the country, what are the expected needs from families going to be this year?

Kent answered, “It’s always tough to gauge this early in the campaign. We are starting to see people contacting us about getting help already, and it’s earlier than what we would normally see interest. I talked to a couple of our agencies at the meeting and they are seeing the same thing. They are seeing earlier than normal interest. Sounds like they are expecting a greater need this year.”

Providing that need takes a lot of volunteers and the Kents have turned their local campaign into a well-oiled machine with the support from the many volunteers, corporate partners, fundraising partners, the local media, and a very generous Northwest Michigan community. Kent says, “Toys for Tots has received strong community support the entire time Maggie and I have been involved. We are doing more than making Christmas memories, we are providing dignity to families that just want to have a great holiday this year, and they don’t know how they will do it. This community has generously responded every year. We are confident they will respond with wonderful generosity again this year.”

Ooh-rah!