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Scouts help launch Toys for Tots drive

Carl Orth/SUNCOAST

Girl Scouts from Troop 316 get into the holiday spirit as they shop for needy children during the kickoff for Toys for Tots at Toys 'R Us in Port Richey.

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: November 10, 2009

Updated:

PORT RICHEY - Some 50 Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts helped launch the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign in West Pasco on Friday.

The youngsters shopped the aisles of the Toys 'R Us store in Port Richey to select Christmas gifts for needy children in West Pasco, who otherwise might not find any presents under the Christmas tree.

Last Christmas, 7,127 needy youths in West Pasco got presents, thanks to the Marine Corps League Holiday Detachment 567, which runs the program. People gave 23,520 toys in all in 2008.

John T. Durkin, a retired Marine colonel and the local Toys for Tots coordinator, welcomed and fired up the Scouts, along with County Commission Chairman Jack Mariano, Port Richey Mayor Richard Rober and Shawn Foster, the district director for U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor.

"It does a lot for the person getting the gift," Mariano said. "But it actually does more for you," the person giving the gift.

"The finest way to be remembered is by how much you cared for others around you," Rober said. "That will define you one day. Christmas Day will be a whole lot better for a lot of people because of every one of you here."

Foster said scouts are following their principle to do a good deed daily. "When the parents show up to get the toys for their children, you would not believe how appreciative those parents are when they get something they would not have been able to do on ... Christmas Day. You guys are going to make it super special."

Each scout had a budget of $80 with a maximum per toy of $20, Durkin explained. "We spent $3,661 on approximately 200 toys," he reported after the event.

Toys 'R Us customers can donate cash and new, unwrapped toys at stores through Sunday, Dec. 6, managers said. Monetary donations can also be made through Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24 at any store, or via the Toys 'R Us Web site.

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.

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

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

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