Local Town Pages www.wellesleytownnews.com
November 1. 2011
Page 13
Toys for Tots will start with "Toy Story 3" Bring a NEW, unwrapped toy for admission to Rec. Dept. event
BY DAVE HALPERIN Amid the joy and excitement of the upcoming holiday season is the sadness of knowing some people may not be able to afford gifts for their children. "I couldn't imagine back then, when I was a kid, not getting a toy, and I can't imagine a parent not being able to give their kids a present," said Department of Public Works employee Kevin Collins, who in his free time will be collecting toys that are dropped off at several Toys for Tots locations around town and bringing them to Fort Devens, where they will be distributed to children in need in Massachusetts. Those locations include: the Recreation Department's Warren Building offices (90 Washington Street); Fire Department Headquarters (on Route 9); the Fire Station on Central Street; and at Wellesley Town Hall. (Other Toys for Tots donation boxes may be found around town through toy drives organized by other organizations.) The Recreation Department, as they do every year, will kick off their Toys for Tots Campaign with a special movie event. But this year they've chosen what might be the most apropos film yet: Toy Story 3. The movie will be shown on the big screen in the gym at the Warren Building on November 18 at 6:30, and organizers ask people to bring a new, unwrapped toy for admission. "We're just trying to get as many donations as possible," said Rec. Dept. Program Administrator Tim Kennedy. "It's just a way to be able to give back to people who can't afford the holiday presents that a kid wants. You hate to see a parent not be able to afford a present for a kid." In addition to donating during the movie event, residents can bring new, unwrapped toys to the Rec. Department's office beginning in
the middle of November and straight up until Christmas. (If other donations arrive too late for this year, Collins said he will still collect them and make sure they are donated to a needy child next year.) Toys for Tots is a U. S. Marine Corps Reserve program that collects new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distributes those toys as gifts to needy children. In 2010, in spite of a down economy and the fact that many Marines who might have been assisting with the drive were deployed overseas, more than 16.7 million toys were given to nearly 7.2 million children. In 2010, said Collins, he estimates that he brought nearly 75 boxes of toys from Wellesley to Fort Devens. This year
he hopes to at least equal that number. "Every last toy counts," he said. "Every kid wants to be able to open up a present on Christmas or Hanukah." For more information on the Rec. Department's Toy Story 3 event, visit http://www.wellesleyma.gov/Pages/WellesleyMA_R ecreation/Special%20Events
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