Do you remember your last Christmas? Were you surrounded by mounds of gifts? Count yourself lucky if you answered yes. Children make up approximately 29 percent of the population; however, almost 13 percent live in poverty and need extra support from local organizations. Enter Toys for Tots.Toys for Tots consists of two basic branches: the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. They actually have two distinct functions despite the similarity in name. The T4Ts program collects the new, unwrapped toys during October, November, and December each year. The toys are then distributed as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community that participates in the T4Ts campaign. The T4Ts Foundation is an Internal Revenue Service–recognized nonprofit, public charity that handles the funding, fundraising, and support for the T4Ts program. No matter the function, the goal is the same: to communicate a message of hope to the children in need so that one day they will become responsible, productive citizens and community leaders.

T4Ts campaigns are held in all 50 states and in hundreds of communities. In order to achieve its yearly goals, the Marine Corps Reserve (MCR) enables the foundation to select veteran Marines, also known as Marine Corps League Detachments (MCL), to coordinate and organize the T4Ts campaigns in communities without a Marine Reserve Center. The New River Valley’s MCL coordinator for 2007 is Robert “Buck” Wrenn of Montgomery County, who serves along with his good friend Robert L. “Bob” Miller, who participates as assistant coordinator.

Wrenn expressed that his main concern for the 2007 T4Ts drive is manpower. Wrenn said that Toys for Tots “is a strictly volunteer organization. I became involved when I retired.” Since then, Wrenn has maintained a close working affiliation with the local and social community agencies such as the Montgomery County Christmas Store, The Salvation Army, Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, Social Services, The Elf Shelf, and churches. The Kiwanis Club is also involved and hosts a Christmas party for children each year.

In order for a family to partake in T4Ts, “they must go through a screening process that allows each organization to determine need from income,” Wrenn said. His wife Alice added that families have to register. Wrenn conveyed several examples, but one family’s story stood out. “There was a crisis situation in Pulaski,” Wrenn said. “Both parents were working parents, they had two children; they found out the mother had cancer right before Christmas. The Marine Corps League sent out some care packages for them.”

Each community organization provides its own approach to distributing gifts. For example, Alice spoke of a particular for Tots,” Alice said. The Montgomery County Christmas Store has a point system that is based on the customers’ income and need. Each customer is allotted a certain amount of points where they then have many departments to shop in, such as clothing, housewares, toys, and food. The items are either donated through toy drives, local retailers, or purchased by the Christmas Store.

Recent toy recalls are wreaking some havoc on donations. “Major headache this year—major headache,” Wrenn said. “Even though we screen anyways, we have to take more precautions. If we find any recalled toys, we ship them to the Marine base in Quantico, Va., and they work out a deal with [the toy manufacturer],” Wrenn said.

Another concern is donations being stolen. “I’ve gone by to check on the box one day and it’s full, come back the next and its half-empty,” Wrenn said with a look of father-like disapproval. “We’ve had some pilferage.”

Wrenn said there have been times when they go to pick up the donation boxes and a manager or another employee says that it’s already been done. “Now we have Toys for Tots hats and sweatshirts with an identity as Marine Corps League so we are readily identifiable.”

Along with toy donations, you can also donate money on the T4Ts Web site. “Any funds we collect are sent to the Toys for Tots Foundation,” Wrenn said. “If toys aren’t donated to certain age groups, then we can go out and buy it,” T4Ts collects toys for toddlers through age 14.

According to Alice, books are the most popular donation. And T4Ts gets a lot of dolls and plush animals instead of something like Spiderman or other action figures. For the older ones, they receive bean bags, makeup sets, and board games. “Wal-Mart probably contributes 90% of [our] bicycles,” Wrenn said.

In addition to the corporate sponsors, T4Ts also has celebrity sponsors that include Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Bob Hope, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tim Allen, Kenny Rogers, and the T4Ts national sponsors, syndicated TV advice show host Dr. Phil McGraw and his wife Robin. McGraw offered some of the advice he’s known for at the 2006 Toys for Tots Campaign. “When you support Toys for Tots, you’re doing more than giving a child a toy, you’re positively impacting that child’s sense of worth and validating that they matter to the world.”

Victoria Via is a Media Studies student at Radford University.