JEFFERSONVILLE, Ohio — Jefferson Township Fire & EMS is collecting new, unwrapped toys through Dec. 10 as part of the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program, the department said in a Facebook post.
Residents can drop off donations at the department’s station in Jeffersonville. A collection box set up for the campaign, sponsored locally by Welch Packaging Group, notes the nationwide drive runs from October through December.
Toys for Tots began in 1947 when Marine Corps Reserve Maj. Bill Hendricks and fellow reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to children in need, an effort inspired by his wife, Diane. The Marine Corps Reserve expanded the effort into a nationwide community action program the following year, and the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation was established in 1991 as a nonprofit to help run the program, according to the Toys for Tots Foundation.
The program collects new, unwrapped toys each holiday season for distribution to children in need in the communities where the toys are donated.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Jefferson Township Fire & EMS.
