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Annual toy drive under way

SCP fire inspector marks 30th year in Toys for Tots

By LIANE SMITH (Contact)

Saturday, December 9, 2006

A gift for every boy and girl...

Every year about 30,000 toys are collected in Lee County for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and distributed locally into the community.

Photo by LIANE SMITH / Banner

McClure Mathews, San Carlos Park fire inspector, holds a big red dog — just one of about 30,000 toys usually collected for Toys for Tots in Lee County.

This year is no exception as local coordinator McClure Mathews, fire inspector with the San Carlos Park Fire Protection and Rescue District, picks up, helps wrap, and drops off toys to needy children and teenagers.

Some years, Mathews even puts on a Santa suit to deliver toys on a fire truck when the folks at the fire department adopt families for the holidays.

Mathews, who first began participating in Toys for Tots in 1966 when he was in the United States Marine Corps, has continued the effort in Lee County since 1988.

"Every place I've been stationed on the state side, I've participated in (Toys for Tots)," McClure said.

"I try to take care of all the kids that I can," he added.

Mathews collects toys all year round, and has distributed them during hurricanes and smaller disasters such as fires and auto accidents, as well as during the holidays.

"A toy kind of eases the pain a little bit," McClure said.

Toys collected in Lee County stay in the community and are distributed through the Salvation Army, the Marine Corps League in Lee County, and local service organizations and churches. Charlotte and Collier counties' work closely with Lee County efforts, and occasionally help each other out if one county does not have enough gifts for a particular age group.

Photo by LIANE SMITH / Banner

Unwrapped toys fill the back of the training room at the San Carlos Park Fire Station on Ben Hill Griffin Parkway.

"Rob Peter to pay Paul," McClure said.

Local businesses such as department stores, banks and many more serve as drop off points for unwrapped toys fit for ages infant to 18. Any United States Postal Office also collects toys for the endeavor.

"We need gifts for the older kids," McClure said Thursday, as he let The Banner preview boxes and boxes of dolls, cars, and games already collected.

"It's a great program," Debbi Redfield, Bonita Springs Fire Service and Rescue District spokesperson said. "The Salvation Army does so much for the community throughout the year, and they go above and beyond during the holidays to help those in need."

The Bonita Springs Fire-Rescue Department is another collector for the Toys for Tots program, with drop locations at both Fire Station One on Old 41 Road, and Fire Station Four on Bonita Grande Drive.

Toys for Tots started in 1947 with the donation of 5,000 toys to needy children by Major Bill Hendricks and a group of Marine reservists in Los Angeles, according to www.toysfortots.org. Hendricks's wife made a Raggedy Ann doll to donate to a needy child in the fall of 1947, but could not find an agency geared toward providing needy children with holiday presents, prompting the pilot project.

The Web site also states that in 2005 Toys for Tots coordinators distributed 18.5 million toys to 7.5 million needy children.

The deadline for donations of unwrapped toys is Wednesday, Dec. 20. To find a drop-off location near you, call McClure Mathews at 267-7525.