Stirpe invites residents to participate in the annual Toys for Tots program

(Syracuse, NY) Assemblyman Al Stirpe (D-North Syracuse) will host two Toys for Tots drop off locations at his community office in Cicero and the Manlius Library. Residents can drop off donations during regular business hours.

Where: Assemblyman Stirpe’s Community Office

5711 South Bay Road, Cicero

Day and time: Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm

Where: Manlius Library

1 Arkie Albanese Avenue, Manlius

Day and time: Monday – Thursday, 10am – 9pm

Friday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm

Sunday, 1pm – 5pm

“All across Central New York people are losing their jobs or being forced to work fewer hours,” Stirpe said. “More and more of their family income is going to pay for necessities, like food and utilities, and some are finding it difficult to afford toys for their children during the upcoming holiday season.”

Stirpe said that the mission of the Toys for Tots program is to collect new, unwrapped toys and present them as gifts to needy children in the community during the holidays. Stirpe is working with a local U.S. Marine Corps Reserve coordinator to collect and distribute the donations.

“Beginning in 1980 the Marine Corps Reserves decided to collect and distribute only new toys,” Stirpe said. “The Marines felt that giving ‘hand me downs’ sent the wrong message to kids. Instead, a shiny new toy delivers a message of hope and helps build self-esteem.”

About Toys for Tots

The Toys for Tots Program is run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve and is supported by the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit charity.

Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR founded Toys for Tots in Los Angeles, California in 1947. Major Hendricks and a group of Marine Reservists collected and distributed 5,000 toys during the first campaign. In 1948, the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots and expanded it into a nationwide community action project as the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots Program. Marines at each Reserve Center throughout the nation conduct toy collection and distribution campaigns in the communities surrounding the center.

Over the last 62 years, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program has distributed more than 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children.

To find more drop off locations, request a toy for your child or for someone else, or become a Toys for Tots volunteer, please visit www.toysfortots.org.

Stirpe invites residents to participate in the annual Toys for Tots program

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