SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – For this holiday season, Klinedinst is honored to once again serve as a National Corporate Donor for Toys for Tots. This marks the firm’s eleventh year as a major donor for the organization, which is facing some of its most significant challenges ever due to COVID-19.
Toys for Tots dates back to 1947, when Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks and his wife were looking for a way to help kids in need for the holidays. Upon learning that no organization was setup to help distribute toys to children, Hendricks, who worked at Warner Bros. enlisted the help of friends in Hollywood, as well as local area Marines, to collect and distribute 5,000 toys that first year.
Following the success of the first year’s toy drive, the Commandant directed all Marine Reserve units to launch their own Toys for Tots campaigns in their communities. One of their most famous proponents was Walt Disney, who designed a poster featuring Toys for Tots’ iconic train logo that is still in use. Today, Toys for Tots is active in over 800 communities, helping to bring holiday cheer to disadvantaged children across all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
In 2020, the organization is facing unprecedented pressure brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. “This year is a year like no other,” said retired Marine Colonel Ted Silvester, Vice President of Marketing & Development for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. “We expect local toy collections to be impacted by covid while at the same time, many more families with children will be seeking holiday help from Toys for Tots.”
To help encourage toy donations in the midst of a pandemic, Toys for Tots has introduced the virtual collection box. Visitors can experience the same joy of giving by selecting a toy online, purchasing it, and then placing the hand-picked toy in a virtual collection box. Toys are organized by age, and Toys for Tots will use the donation in areas where the need is greatest. For those that prefer to give a physical toy, Toys for Tots is also collecting toys locally from hundreds of toy box locations.
Klinedinst is proud to support Toys for Tots on behalf of our clients and colleagues. To learn more about Toys for Tots, please visit:
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