STUTTGART, Germany -- Volunteers from U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, USO- Stuttgart, and the USAG Stuttgart community coordinated with the Toys for Tots program in Landstuhl, Germany, to deliver donated new, unwrapped toys to children around the area from Böblingen to the Rathaus, downtown, Dec. 16.
“It’s been a great, overwhelming outpour of support and donations from the local military community,” said Sgt. Jared P. Massey, the Toys for Tots program coordinator for Landstuhl, Germany.
Each year, Toys for Tots collects and distributes toys in communities where Marine Corps Reserve units, or in communities without a Reserve unit, groups authorized by the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, are located.
This holiday season, Toys for Tots in Landstuhl and Stuttgart collected more than 1,300 new, donated toys valuing over $14,000 from the U.S. military communities of Ramstein and Stuttgart.
“Last year was the first year we did Toys for Tots, so people didn’t know about it as much,” said Massey, “but this year, everyone was looking out for it; people dropped off toys even when the boxes weren’t there anymore.”
Toys were delivered to local German children with coordination with the German Red Cross in Landstuhl and the USO in Stuttgart.
“[The German Red Cross] was extremely grateful! Last year they didn’t really understand what we were doing, because it was lost in translation, but then we showed up with two vans full of brand-new toys and they were caught by surprised,” said Massey.
For the holiday season, the Marines put out boxes outside the Base Exchange to collect toy donations. Local kindergartens, orphanages and organizations that represented underprivileged children were contacted through the Ramstein and Stuttgart communities to deliver toys to families registered through the Toys for Tots program.
“There are programs in place that go back toward the military families, but very few that go back to our German communities,” said Massey.
“We’re guests in this country and we’re supported by the local community; we drive on their roads, we live in their towns, and we’re supported by their businesses, so we’re giving back to our community outside of [U.S.] military base. It’s been a great experience and I’m glad I can be a part of it.”
Toys for Tots began as a charitable effort in 1947 was authorized by the Secretary of Defense to create and affiliate with the non-profit charity. In 1995, the Secretary of Defense approved Toys for Tots as an official mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. As of 2013, the foundation has collected and distributed more than 469 million toys to needy families, according to the program’s site. For more information on giving to the Toys for Tots program, check out their official webpage: http://www.toysfortots.org/