Toys for Tots to benefit with toy collections

 

Last updated 12/4/2012 at Noon



The Orange County Radio Control Club is hosting a “Fun-Fly” Saturday morning, but this time the activity will be extra special with the collection of toys to benefit the Toys For Tots program.

“Everyone is welcome to come fly, have lunch and donate a toy for a good cause,” said Don Marshall, treasurer of the Orange County R/C club.

Lunch will be served and the landing fee is waived with the donation of a new unwrapped toy.

The Orange County R/C Club has been in existence for more than 20 years. It has grown to include more than 50 members of all ages. However, they are always looking for new members or just a chance to talk about their remote control airplanes.

For this special event all pilots must present their Academy of Model Aeronautics card in order participate.

The field is located at 10623 F.M. 1442. It is near the Orange County dump and only 1.1 miles from Interstate 10.

“Come out and join the fun,” Marshall said.

For more information on the club, their website is http://www.rc-pilots.org.

People still wanting to donate to Toys For Tots will get a second chance on December 15 at the first annual Naughty and Nice Santa Claus Classic Rag Ball Tournament. The games begin at 8 a.m. at the Memorial Field. Each team must have a minimum of 10 players and have at least three girls. The costs is $10 per player and an unwrapped toy for a child. For more information on the tournament, contact Josh Moore at 409-238-9451 or Chelsea Riley at 409-330-1051.

The collected toys at each event will be given to Mike and Tammy Ochs, who are the local representatives for Toys For Tots.

Toys for Tots in Southeast Texas is run solely by the former Marine and his wife, their three daughters and husbands, Joy and Jamie, Stacie and Nathan, Rita, and along with their grandchildren all of Orange. They work hard all year raising money to purchase new toys and collecting new toys to provide smiles on the faces of children in Foster Care and Group Homes throughout Orange, Jefferson and Hardin counties on Christmas morning.

They had thought about retiring from the project, but decided to continue their efforts. They originally worked as organizers to teach their children valuable lessons, but now it is for the grandchildren.

Toys for tots began in 1947, when Major Bill Hendricks, USCR and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. In the fall of 1947, Diane Hendricks, Bill’s wife, crafted a homemade doll and asked Bill to deliver the doll to an organization, which would give it to a needy child at Christmas. When Bill Hendricks determined that no agency existed, his wife told him he should start one. The 1947 pilot project was so successful the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign.

Since beginning the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program in 1947, Marines have distributed more than 452 million toys to more than 209 million needy children. This charitable endeavor has made U.S. Marines the unchallenged leader in looking after less fortunate children at Christmas. Over its’ life span, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation has supplemented local toy collections with more than 98 million toys valued at more than $694 million; plus provided promotion and support materials valued at over $8.5 million.

 

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