Slick and Toys For Tots partners this holiday season...It’s a team effort.
It’s a great time of the year to reflect and give thanks for the simple things we all might take advantage of….one simple “amenity” we take for granted too many times is heat. Having a warm home. No one likes to be cold and we at Slick wish everyone could be warm during these winter months - unfortunately, this is not the case for many. And while we’d love to wave our magic wand and take care of the problem, we can’t.
But what we can do is help where we can help - which is why we are excited to be partnering with Toys For Tots this holiday season. So while you are making an effort to fill your oil tank this season, please remember you can share the warmth with one simple purchase.
Your purchase of heating oil this month will help contribute to making a child smile this holiday season. So why not do something you need to do while saving some money and helping out? Deal?
Thank you.
Toys for Tots began as a Los Angeles charitable effort in 1947. Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, was inspired by his wife Diane when she tried to donate a homemade Raggedy Ann doll to a needy child but couldn't find any organization to do so. At her suggestion, he gathered a group of local Marine reservists, including Lieutenant Colonel John Hampton, who coordinated and collected some 5,000 toys for local children that year from collection bins placed outside Warner Bros. movie theaters. Their efforts were so successful that, in 1948, Toys for Tots was launched as a national campaign. Hendricks used his position as director of Public Relations for Warner Brothers Studio to enlist celebrity support, as well as have Walt Disney Studios design the red toy train logo A theme song for the program was written in 1956 by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, and would be recorded by Nat King Cole, among others
Until 1979, Marine reservists (frequently in their dress blue uniforms) and volunteers would collect and refurbish used toys. In 1980, only new toys were accepted, as reservists were no longer able to dedicate drill hours to refurbish toys, as well as legal concerns and the mixed message of giving hand-me-downs as a message of hope.
In 1991, the Secretary of Defense authorized the creation and affiliation with the non-profit charity foundation. In 1995, the Secretary of Defense approved Toys for Tots as an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve.
Noting in 1996 that many communities did not have a Marine reservist presence, the commander of the Marine Forces Reserve authorized Marine Corps League detachments and other local organizations to fill the gaps in toy collection and distribution.
In 2009, the program received support from First Lady Michelle Obama, who placed the first collection box at the White House. In December 2011, she took part in a Toys for Tots activity at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
As of 2016, the Toys for Tots Program and Foundation have collected and distributed more than 512 million toys. The mission of the program "is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted."