Board members Marine Liaison Staff Sgt. Mark D. Ellis, Assistant Treasurer Betty Buglio, President Kat Crum, Treasurer Rex Ford and Jeff Swenson of Walgreens.
Bill’s Bikes Toy Run And Toys For Tots Make Christmas Morning Bright For Everyone Story by Deborah Welky • Photos by Abner Pedraza
Toys for Tots was founded in 1947 in Los Angeles by U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks when his wife, Diane, tried to donate a homemade doll to a needy child but could find no organization through which to do so. Together with Lt. Col. John Hampton, Hendricks rallied the U.S. Marines Corps to provide toys for underprivileged children at Christmastime, and the program quickly spread nationwide. In Palm Beach County, the motorcycle rights groups ABATE joined the program in 1982, and the effort was taken over by its most ardent sup88
december 2015 | wellington the magazine
porter, Bill Casperson of Bill’s Bikes, in the late 1980s. Upon Casperson’s death in 1995, the future of the county’s Toys for Tots drive was unclear. That’s when the Palm Beach County Motorcyclists Association stepped in to take over. “We want to continue to make Bill’s vision real,” PBCMA President Kat Krum said. “Life’s crappy
enough. You should not have to quit believing in Santa Claus because your parents are broke.” With 33 years of experience, a board of five and an unwillingness to waste time on nonsense, the group’s Toys for Tots program runs like a well-oiled panhead. The group meets monthly beginning in September and places collection boxes around the county in mid-October. Volunteers bring the toys to the U.S. Marine Reserve’s distribution point in an old barn at the South