Toys For Tots barrels are unusually empty of toys in Morgan Hill
this year.
Toys For Tots barrels are unusually empty of toys in Morgan Hill this year.
The U.S. Marine Corps effort with South Valley branches, has been famed for decades for collecting thousands of toys for children and families who would otherwise face a bleak holiday. Morgan Hill residents are normally generous. But not this year so far.
Santa Clara County Fire Dept. Capt. Mike Sanders, who is stepping for the late long-time Toys For Tots leader Ken Tougas, said Monday that supplies are really low.
“We have about one-tenth of the toys we need for those needy kids,” Sanders said. “Usually the storage room is half full by this time and now there is only a short layer, maybe 3 feet by 15 feet. We have more empty tables than toys and usually we get all kinds.”
“It’s not too late to donate toys,” Sanders said. But he would really prefer if people did not wait until the last minute to bring in new, unwrapped toys.
Toys may be dropped off at the Toys for Tots warehouse at Cochrane Storage, 411 Woodview Ave. off Cochrane Road, or other barrel locations listed below.
All toys collected in the Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy area will be distributed locally in town on Dec. 22 at The Grange. Volunteers are needed for that effort, too, according to Gina Six, who spends large chunks of time working for Toys For Tots. Last year, she said, only 20 percent of the toys given to Morgan Hill and San Martin children actually come from local residents.
“The rest come from San Jose,” Six said.
Toys For Tots is holding a fundraising barbecue Friday, Dec. 12, also at The Grange, 40 E. Fourth St.
Details: El***@************ll.com or call Gina, 782-8883.
