KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This weekend, NBC Action News wrapped up our 6th Annual Santa Cause. Our news team spread out at Wal-Mart stores around the metro to work with The United States Marines and Toys for Tots.
Our thanks once again to the hundreds of you who joined us dropping off an amazing amount of toys. They will be sorted in the coming week and then distributed to families in need in time for Christmas.
Toys for Tots is marking its 60th year of making Christmas brighter for children around the country, according to MSgt. Jay Wellman: “Toys for Tots started in 1947 in Los Angeles. And then in 1948, The Marine Corp picked it up and it became a nationwide event.”
Long before shoppers pick up a few extra toys; long before the distribution sites are set up; the United States Marines are hard at work planning their next Toys for Tots project.
“It really is an amazing amount of work that gets done by a small amount of people, Wellman explains. “I don't think a lot of people realize that the Marines who are doing the Toys for Tots also continue to be Marines while they're doing it.”
These Marines started planning for the Kansas City area’s collection last summer. Wellman says the need continues to grow each year -- especially this year:
“We're experiencing lower donations and higher requests for toys. We've probably had 3,000-4,000 more requests for toys this year than we did last year.”
Still with help from the community, the Marines say they'll work as hard as they can and as long as they can, until every request is covered.
Wellman admits that gives their tough guy image a new slogan: “’No worse enemy - no greater friend!" So yes, we can be tough on the battlefield, and that's our reputation... but when it comes to taking care of our community and giving back, there is a softer side. And we try not to let it show too often, but its there.”
Many of these Marines are parents themselves, and they say they feel better come Christmas morning, knowing other families won't have to go without.
“It will make me appreciate what I have a lot more,” says Wellman. “And my children seeing what I've been doing and what the Marines have been doing... I think it will make them appreciate what they have a lot more also.”
For more information on Toys for Tots, click here.
