MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Miami Township Police Department has launched a Toys for Tots drive this holiday season, collecting new, unwrapped toys through Christmas Eve to help local families in need.
Residents can drop off donations in the lobby of the police department, 5900 McPicken Drive, Milford, the department said in a Facebook post. The partnership pairs the department with Toys for Tots, the national charitable program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Toys for Tots traces its roots to 1947, when Marine Corps Reserve Major William L. Hendricks organized a toy collection in Los Angeles at his wife’s suggestion, gathering 5,000 toys for distribution to children in need. The Marine Corps adopted the program the following year and expanded it nationwide. The Secretary of Defense designated Toys for Tots an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve in 1995, and the nonprofit Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, created in 1991, now supports fundraising for the annual campaign. Nearly 40,000 Marines, Marine Corps League members and volunteers take part in local campaigns across the country each year, collecting new toys to distribute to economically disadvantaged children at Christmas.
The toy drive is one of several holiday giving programs the Miami Township Police Department runs each year. The department also organizes an annual Shop with a Cop event, pairing uniformed officers with children selected by the department for a Christmas shopping trip funded entirely by donations from local businesses and residents.
The department said it plans to post a daily movie-themed trivia question on Facebook throughout the toy drive as a way to keep the community engaged with the campaign.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Miami Township Police Department.