Dec 7, 2007 6:02 pm US/Eastern
'Toys For Tots' Donations Down Dramatically
WORCESTER (WBZ) ―
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A storage area of the Central Massachusetts Toys For Tots drop-off center lies near empty. Donations are down by at least 40% from last year.
WBZ
Marines who staff the Central Massachusetts Toys For Tots drop-off center say donations have dropped off by at least forty percent from last year. They suspect hard times as Christmas closes in, and hope those who can give will dig a little deeper this season.
The past few years, the toy donation warehouse has been floor to ceiling. Not this year.
Betty Remillard
has helped sort donations at the Toys for Tots drop-off center in Worcester for several years. She noticed the problem right away. "Usually by now, there's usually four times the amount, five times the amount of gifts."
S taff Sgt. Andrew Herzberg, program coordinator for Central Massachusetts' Toys for Tots, confirmed Remillard's observations. "Last year we had about 8,000 more toys than we do this year…You gotta figure that people who were barely scraping by last year aren't scraping by this year."
Staff Sgt. Herzberg says he is touched by those who have already given, especially the children. "It almost makes me cry, reading some of these e-mails: just the love that these little kids have… With the love that they have for fellow man, there'd be no war."
A s the Marines wait for reinforcements, they are extending the deadline for donations by nine days, until December 17th. Last year, they delivered more than 19 million toys to 7.6 million children.
This may be a season of giving, but it's also a season of hope. The hope at Toys for Tots is that their donation room will fill up with toys in the coming days.
If you would like to donate to the Central Massachusetts Toys for Tots campaign,
visit their web site to find a donation location. You can also find a Toys for Tots location where you live.
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