‘Tis the season to help those less fortunate.
The Marine Toys for Tots toy drive is gearing up for the 78th year of providing a little Christmas magic to children by placing toy collection boxes in businesses around the area.
The boxes are to collect new, unwrapped toys which will be distributed to qualifying families across the area. Cash donations are also accepted.
All toys and monetary donations collected in Western Bowie County will go to help a family in this area, said Rodney Fuller, Toys for Tots coordinator in Western Bowie County.
“We cover New Boston, DeKalb, Avery, Simms, Redwater, Nash. There’s a lot of kids,” Fuller said.
In 2024, 327 area children received toys their families wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford.
Bicycles are the largest need for the toy drive, Fuller added.
The annual toy drive will lead up to the Toy Run in December.
Fuller also cautioned residents to be aware of those proporting themselves to be affiliated with Toys for Tots who are not. There have been cases where imposters have set out boxes and collected donations but were not official representatives of the effort.
To date, the national program has distributed more than 700 million toys to more than 300 million children.
Applications to request a toy can be found at texarkana- tx.toysfortots.org.
To request a collection box or make a cash donation, or to verify if someone is truly a represenatative of the campaign, call Fuller at 903701-2549.
