Step Up: Toys for Tots on Your Holiday List!

This year, we’re all tightening our belts and trimming our holiday gift lists and wish lists. But there is one gift you want to keep on your list: a new, unwrapped toy that you drop off at a Toys for Tots collection station. You know Toys for Tots. Every year you see the big red donation barrels all over the place — in the lobby at work, at Toys R Us stores, and usually at the local firehouse. The original program started over 60 years ago, in 1947, when Diane Hendricks, the wife of Major Bill Hendricks, made a Raggedy Ann doll, and asked her husband to donate it to an organization that would give it to a child in need. He tried, but couldn’t find one in the Los Angeles area, or anywhere else for that matter. So, with Diane’s prompting, Bill started one himself … and Toys for Tots was born!

That very first year, Bill and several Marine Reservists gave out 5,000 toys to local children, and it just picked up steam from there. The next year, the Marines made it a nationwide campaign, and Bill, who was also the Director of PR for Warner Brothers (talk about a great job!) enlisted the help of several celebrities to raise the profile of the program even further. Walt Disney designed the logo, and the famous names associated with the charity include Bob Hope, Billy Ray Cyrus and Peggy Lee. They've also had support from the White House, with First Ladies Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush acting as national spokespersons.

Toys for Tots has come a long way from that first Raggedy Ann doll, providing millions of children around the world with toys, and some much needed holiday hope and cheer. The Marines and the Toys for Tots Foundation do a lot of hard work, but it's the people in the community who donate toys that keep the program alive.

So when you see those donation barrels in the lobby at work, at Toys R Us stores, and when you're driving by the fire station, stop and make a donation. You can also visit the Toys for Tots site to use their drop off location finder tool. As festive as cards, wrapping paper or a Starbucks peppermint mocha can be, the real spirit of the holiday comes from helping others. Even if it's as small as a box of crayons or a Dora the Explorer game, the few dollars you spend will provide a child with priceless hope and holiday joy. OK, who's ready to go to face the mall with me? It's for a good cause!

Toys for Tots logo courtesy of Toys for Tots.