Today, Metro launches our first-ever holiday toy drive.
The newspaper is partnering with Toys for Tots NYC, the local arm of the national charity run by none other than the U.S. Marines.
This holiday season, Toys for Tots NYC aims to give toys to over 300,000 kids in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Many of those children would otherwise go without gifts this year.
How can you help? click on link under Metro Magic logo, where you can securely purchase a toy through Toys R Us. All the gifts purchased under Metro Magic will be sent directly to Toys for Tots.
Metro’s staff in our New York office will also be filling Toys for Tots boxes with gifts through December.
And check out our Metro Magic blog. Every day we’ll update you on how many gifts we’ve collected so far.
At a time when one in eight New Yorkers — 12 percent of the city — is struggling to put food on the table, toys aren’t always a priority. This holiday, let’s all do our part to help out our neighbors.
60 seconds with …
“THIS YEAR WE HOPE TO HELP 300 GROUPS”
After two tours in Iraq, U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Walter Greber, 26, now organizes Toys for Tots at the Marines’ base at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. Metro asked:
What is Toys for Tots?
In 1947, a group of Marine reservists got together and cleaned up small toys and gave them away to needy families. Now it’s one of the biggest nonprofits in the U.S. We work by giving away the toys to other nonprofits. For example, one-third of the toys we collect go to the NYPD, which distributes them. We have 800 drop boxes up this winter in the city.
How severe is the need?
Last year we got 600 requests from organizations asking for toys, and we were only able to accommodate about 175 of them. This year, we hope to help 300 groups.
What kinds of toys are you collecting?
We want new, unwrapped gifts, not clothes. We are really trying to concentrate on gifts for kids 11 and under. The need is high for things like dolls for younger girls — don’t forget about them.
