CLEARFIELD – Santa Claus and his workshop of bustling elves are wishing for some help delivering special presents and some Christmas joy to the unfortunate girls and boys from newborns to 13 years old in Clearfield County this year.
On behalf of the jolly fellow at the North Pole, Dick Provost, coordinator for the Clearfield County Toys for Tots program, hopes that community members will once more help collect toys for the 12th year. All toys must be new and unwrapped and can be donated through Dec. 15.
According to him, they’ve placed 59 Toys for Tots collection boxes throughout the county, such as at the Clearfield Chamber of Commerce and Jim’s Sports Center, the Clearfield and DuBois Wal-Mart stores, the K-Mart store in DuBois and a multitude of bank locations.
Last year, Provost said the Toys for Tots program distributed 7,000 toys to 1,001 children county-wide from Santa’s Clearfield branch of the North Pole. In 2009, toys reached 1,189 children. He said that Central Pennsylvania Community Action determines a child’s eligibility for a toy.
“But any child who needs a toy gets a toy. We’re not going to turn any child away at least I’m not,” he said. From year-to-year, he said the program’s greatest needs are toys for newborn to age 3 and for the older children, 11 to 13 years old.
“Because it’s ‘Toys for Tots,’ people hear ‘tots’ and think toddlers. And, it’s more difficult to buy for the older children today than it was when I was that age. So, we need the monetary donations to purchase toys where we have needs. We always have plenty for the children ages 4 to 10 years.”
According to him, Santa’s elves will organize a committee, which will contact individual families who have a child receiving a toy. Toys will be distributed to the children from Dec. 10 through Dec. 15. This year, families will pick-up their toys at the elves’ central office building located behind Carns Equipment along the Clearfield-Shawville Highway.
“It makes my Christmas as well as for that of our volunteers. It makes us all very happy to see happy children. We receive many thank you notes and cards from their parents,” Provost said. “You have heard the saying, ‘it’s better to give than to receive.’ Well, it’s true, and every child needs a toy at Christmastime.”
Provost expressed gratitude to community members for their ongoing participation of the Clearfield-based program each and every year. The Toys for Tots program is under the direction of the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
The Toys for Tots program was established in 1947 by Major William L. Hendricks, USCR and Marine Reservists in Los Angeles, CA after collecting and distributing 5,000 toys to needy children. His wife, Diane had crafted a homemade doll and requested that he deliver it to an organization, which would give it to a needy child at Christmas.
Hendricks determined that no such agency existed, and his wife encouraged his formation of the very first one. His 1947 pilot project was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign.
That year across the country, Marine Corps Reserve units conducted Toys for Tots campaigns in each community in which a Marine Reserve Center was located. Marines have conducted successful nationwide campaigns at Christmas each year since 1948.
For the past 64 years at Christmastime, the Toys for Tots program has distributed more than 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children. This charitable endeavor has made U. S. Marines the unchallenged leader in looking after less fortunate children at Christmas.
For additional information about the Clearfield program or to donate, please contact Dick Provost at 814-765-5252 or at 814-765-8643. All donations must be made payable to Toys for Tots and mailed to Clearfield County Toys for Tots, P.O. 221, Clearfield, PA 16830.