In preparation for the holiday season, students, faculty, and staff from the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Huntsville, Alabama decided to host a drive to collect toys for Toys for Tots. This impactful organization was founded and is managed by the United States Marine Corps. Everyone at the Huntsville campus donated toys and they even had some people from the community drop off toys as well. They began the drive in the middle of November and continued to collect until the middle of December. By the end of the event, they had collected and were able to deliver a total of 176 toys to be distributed to children in need.
The mission of the United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to spend the months of October, November, and December collecting new, unwrapped toys each year. After collecting all the toys, they then distribute them as Christmas gifts to children in need within the local community of those that gave. This incredible organization was founded by the Marines Corps in 1948. Since then, they have continued to lead and participate in the nationwide Toys for Tots program in an effort for to give back to the many communities of which they are a part.
Everyone that took part in this year’s Toys for Tots Toy Drive at the Huntsville campus was overjoyed to be making such a strong, positive impact on the surrounding community and children in the area that would otherwise not have gifts to open this Christmas. As many of the staff, faculty, and students have children of their own at home, it was exciting to think of the children that would know they were thought of this holiday season.
To learn more about this organization and how you can help or even host a drive in your community, visit the Toys for Tots Facebook page or their website at www.toysfortots.org.