Morgantown, W.Va. — Another holiday season is underway and one of the most well known charitable programs has returned.
The North Central West Virginia Toys for Tots Campaign is set to begin in a couple of days and their goal has been the same as it’s been since its original inception in 1991.
“Our goal of course is to get toys into the hands of needy children,” said Toys for Tots Local Coordinator Charity Quick.
Starting its now 11th campaign in North Central West Virginia, Toys for Tots brings together multiple organizations within North Central West Virginia. Among them include the Salvation Army, United Way and Christian Help. With the help from the United States Marine Corps., these organizations will help collect any new unwrapped for less fortunate children in the North Central region.
One opportunity to donate will be the Morgantown Christmas Parade where Marines will be accepting donations.
“If you’re at the parade and you see a Marine in dress blues, you see that Toys for Tots banner, please bring a new unwrapped toy to the parade, and hand that toy off to one of our local Marines and they will make sure that that toy gets to me and then we will distribute that out to children,” Quick said.
The Morgantown Christmas Parade is Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m. on High Street. Those wishing to donate in other ways can do so starting at Dec. 1 at various locations, including at 21 different small businesses in Morgantown. Donations will also be accepted at five locations in Marion County and three in Preston County.
“If you got to toysfortots.org and select Morgantown as a location, it will take you to the local page and take you to all of the location boxes,” she said.
According to Toys for Tots official website, their campaign makes an emphasis on making sure any donations made to Toys for Tots within North Central West Virginia stay in the community — including cash donations.
“97 cents of every dollar we collect goes directly to toys,” Quick said. “All of the toys that we collect in our local community goes to children in our local community as well as any money we collect gets converted into toys, and those toys go to children in the local community.”
Toys for Tots will be accepting donations at participating locations until December 15th.