Niagara Rises

Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte (D-Lewiston) will participate this holiday season as a Toys for Tots drop-off location at her district office located at 1700 Pine Avenue, Niagara Falls.  DelMonte encourages local residents to drop-off donations on weekdays between 9am and 5pm until Friday, December 18.

“All across Western New York, especially here in Niagara County people are losing their jobs or are being forced to work fewer hours or for les pay,” DelMonte said.  “More and more of their family income is going to pay for necessary expenses, like food, heat and healthcare, and some are finding it difficult to afford toys for their children during the upcoming holiday season.”

DelMonte said that the mission of the Toys for Tots program is to collect new, unwrapped toys and present them as gifts to needy children in the community during the holidays.  DelMonte is working with the local U.S. Marine Corp Reserve coordinator to collect and distribute the donations.

About Toys for Tots

The Toys for Tots Program is run by the United States Marine Corp Reserve and is supported by the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit charity.

Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR founded Toys for Tots in Los Angeles , California in 1947.  Major Hendricks and a group of Marine Reservists collected and distributed 5,000 toys during the first campaign.  In 1948, the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots and expanded it into a nationwide community action project as the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots Program.  Marines at each Reserve Center throughout the nation conduct toy collection and distribution campaigns in the communities surrounding the center.

Over the last 62 years, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program has distributed more than 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children.

To find more drop-off locations, request a toy for a child, or to become a Toys for Tots volunteer, please visit www.toysfortots.org.