PORT ANGELES — Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program volunteers in Clallam County are scrambling to meet a steady rise in requests for toys, even as donations have dropped off this year for young teens and children ages 3 and younger.
Donations are more than 50 percent below those of last year, creating a gap for some age groups, according to local Toys for Tots coordinator Eric Miner.
Miner said the Toys for Tots campaign has received 3,550 toy requests so far this year, while only about 3,800 toys have been donated. More toy requests are expected.
Last year, there were 4,115 requests filled by 11,085 donated toys.
Gifts appropriate for young teenagers and children from newborn to age 3 are in high demand as Christmas approaches.
‘Hurt locker’
“They’re in a hurt locker,” Miner said. “We’re having trouble filling those high and low age groups.”
Cash donations are helping to partially fill the gap.
Armed with recent local cash donations, volunteers from the Marine Corps League descended upon Swain’s General Store in Port Angeles recently to hunt for gifts, filling 10 shopping carts with everything from soccer balls and other sporting equipment to fishing gear, picture books and toddler toys.
Swain’s pitched in, offering discounts and donating $100 to the cause.
Requests for toys have increased by “roughly 15 [percent] to 20 percent each year,” Miner said, adding that this year is no exception.
Minimum goal
The minimum goal of the Toys for Tots program is to provide each child with at least two toys, one large and one smaller.
Until this year, that goal always has been met, Miner said.
Toys for Tots accepts both new, unwrapped toys and cash donations. The money is used to purchase toys as needed and, along with donated toys, is then sorted at a central warehouse to match orders.
All donations are used locally. Toys are distributed by local social service organizations and churches.
“If it’s donated in this county, it’s used in this county, whether toys or money,” Miner said.
For more information, phone Miner at 360-460-1031 or access the Toys for Tots website at http://tinyurl.com/ClallamToysForTots.
