Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
Hudson Falls Marine Corps League. Memorial Detachment 2 has broken ties with the National Toys for Tots program and has gone independent with their own “Toys for Girls and Boys” program to provide gifts to area children for the Christmas season.
Committee member Jerry Steves of Queensbury said that after last holiday season, Toys for Tots centralized in Albany.
“We wanted to be sure that our toys and collections could stay in the local tri-county area, Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. They…pushed everything to Albany. That’s not the way we have operated for the past many, many years” — 16 years, a letter to area businesses noted.
“Stuff we collected was subject to be taken away to other communities, and we didn’t want that,” Mr. Steves said.
Collect at SGF Parade on Nov. 20
The program’s highest-profile collection moment is the South Glens Falls Holiday Parade on Sunday, Nov. 20, sponsored for the second year by the The Post-Star.
Mr. Steve says 20 to 40 members of the Hudson Falls Marine Corps League run the Toys program. He said much of the work is done by area businesses and non-profits that hold fund-raisers or collect toys.
The group seeks unwrapped, new toys, as well as monetary donations. The effort benefits children ages 2 through 12.
They support “some 800 to 900 families,” each year, Mr. Steves said, typically offering five or so gifts and a stocking stuffer, he said, for each child in the family.
The Marine Corps League’s philosophy is that, “regardless of the family or what is happening there, every child deserves a toy at Christmas. Oddly enough. That’s a strong feeling people are in favor of.”
Families: Register this week
Sign-up for families will take place Monday to Wednesday, Nov. 14 to 16, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, in person at the Marine Corps League building at 3033 Route 4 in Hudson Falls. Bring a picture ID, they said.
Events on Nov. 12 and 14
The Marine Corps League will be at the Wal-Mart store on Upper Glen Street on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., collecting toys and donations.
They’ll be at Golden Corral on Quaker Road on Monday, Nov. 14, from 4 to 9 p.m., collecting donations.
The effort continues now through December 23. Collection boxes — now with the new Toys for Girls and Boys logo — will be at locations around the community.
Info and to make a donation, call 792-2687 or 361-7309.
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