The U.S. Marine Corps — and area kids — NEED YOU

Turn your company holiday party into a true celebration of the spirit of Christmas by adding it to the list of Toys for Tots collection events. It’s as easy as signing up online, designating the number of U.S. Marines you’d like to come, and getting the word out to employees to bring toy or monetary donations for the program.
You can also volunteer to help organize toys in the program’s Sunrise Mall space beginning Nov. 15. Volunteer opportunities to help Marines provide toys to thousands of children in need in the Coastal Bend include sorting, stocking and cleanup through Jan. 15, 2017.  
The U.S. Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948, one year after Major Bill Hendricks delivered 5,000 toys for kids in Los Angeles. Walt Disney designed the Toys for Tots red train for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve program. Toys for Tots collected $273 million in 2015, the second-best year ever in the program, which has involved presidents and first ladies throughout its history. The best year was in 2014, when $284 million was raised. Toys for Tots is accredited by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance.
Last year, almost 30,000 children in the Coastal Bend each received two toys, two books and stocking stuffers for the Christmas holidays, thanks to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program. This year, the Marine in charge, Gunner Sargent Walte
r Rose, wants to up the ante. His goal is to serve 35,000 underprivileged children, reaching out into communities that have not been served in the past. That means collecting 65,000 toys!
“I know there’s a lot of families out there in need; people who don’t have the chance to give their kids a good Christmas,” Rose told Corpus Christi Business News. “This is our chance to give back to the communities.” 
Area businesses can help Rose meet that goal by including toy collections as part of the company party tradition. Last year, more companies than ever made Toys for Tots part of their holiday celebrations. Rose wants to keep that number growing. 
“It’s all online,” Rose said. “You can sign up for a party, sign up to volunteer, find out where to donate toys or money.” 
The sooner you sign up the better, although Rose said he can usually come up with the personnel for parties if he knows a week out. Marines come to events in their dress blues to meet, greet, talk about the program and collect the toys. 
A longtime proponent of the Toys for Tots program, Rose is in charge for the first time. He is being helped by last year’s top officer, Staff Sgt. Andres Moratalla Jr. Like Moratalla, Rose comes from a military family and takes pride in community work. 
“It’s a great feeling to give back to community organizations,” Rose said. “I’ve always been motivated to help out our local communities. 
Donated new, unwrapped toys may be dropped at multiple locations across the city, all of which are listed on the Corpus Christi Toys for Tots website. Aside from the company holiday parties, toys are collected at two major public events in the city: the La Posada boat parade and the Toys for Tots motorcycle parade. You can donate money directly on the website.
To register to receive toys, whether an individual or organization collecting for a group of children, deadline is Dec. 1. Registration forms are on the website or will be available to those who show up at the Sunrise Mall location when it opens sometime later this month.
The easy-to-use website can be found by typing Corpus Christi Toys for Tots in any search engine. The address is corpus-christi-tx.toysfortots.org. The easiest way to request Marines for a party, make a donation or volunteer is online. Or you can call GYSGT Walter Rose of Company C, 1st Battalion 23d Marines, at (361) 442-0705.