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Marines launch '09 Toys for Tots campaign

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BY CARL ORTH

SUNCOAST NEWS ASSISTANT EDITOR

Published: November 3, 2009

Updated:

PORT RICHEY - Christmas came in July for organizers of the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign for gifts for needy children.

Now it's prime time for campaign volunteers who have planned a kickoff event this Friday at the Toys 'R Us store in Port Richey, according to coordinator John T. Durkin.

The real estate agent, a retired Marine colonel, succeeds E.J. Koczur, who held the post the past four years.

Hundreds of drop boxes for donated toys already have begun appearing in stores and other businesses.

The post office plans its big push to collect curbside toys on Saturday, Dec. 5.

The toys will be handed out to qualifying families on two dates:

•Saturday, Dec. 12, at Hudson Middle School, 14540 Cobra Way.

•Saturday, Dec. 19, at J.W. Mitchell High School, 2323 Little Road, Trinity.

Last Christmas, 7,127 youths in West Pasco had something waiting for them under the Christmas tree, thanks to the Marine Corps League Holiday Detachment 567, which runs the program. People gave 23,520 toys in all in 2008.

To launch the 2009 campaign, Toys for Tots is asking local boy scouts and girl scouts to pick out gifts in a shopping expedition at Toys 'R Us on behalf of the needy youngsters, Durkin explains.

Junior Girl Scout Troop 316 plans to send 13 girls to the event, troop spokeswoman Lisa Sagastume reports.

"We can't wait!" Sagastume wrote to Durkin.

"They will have a $20 per toy limit," Durkin explained about the shopping spree participants, "so they will each be looking for around 4 or 5 toys, which is the allocation for two children in need."

Oddly enough, Durkin noted, organizers often run short of toys for children ages 9 to 12, especially the girls.

Parents or guardians who need toys for youngsters must register by Friday, Dec. 4, Florida Department of Children and Families office at 7601 Little Road, New Port Richey. Parents with proper ID only are allowed into the schools on distribution days.

Some people who might not have shoes arrived last year seeking gifts for children, Toys for Tots official Christian Isaly said in June at the Holiday Rotary Club. He has seen others cooking in their cars before the distribution site opens.

"It's everything in the world to them" to have a gift for their children, Isaly said.

Toys for Tots would not exist without the help of the U.S. Post Service, Isaly said. "We wouldn't be able to pull this off" without the help of postal officials.

Donated storage facilities are used to house many donations.

For more information, call Durkin at 727-858-8247 or visit the West Pasco Toys for Tots Web site.

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