HOLIDAY COLLECTION
Toys for Tots kicks off 2020 campaign
CLIFTONPARK, N.Y. » Capital Region Toys for Tots kicked off this year’s holiday collection campaign on Thursday morning, with announcements of three new partnerships and a generous donation from local Dunkin’ franchisees.
In addition to Toys for Tots’s usual partnership with Dunkin’ and others, this year, Albany county, Destination Nissan and Kia, and Quick Response have joined the team to help bring Christmas toys to children around the capital region. Each organization will help the campaign in a way that showcases their strengths.
This year’s campaign is taking a new form, out of necessity due to the ongoing pandemic. Instead of dropoff boxes located at Dunkin’ locations around the Capital Region, there will be two coordinated drive-thru drop off days in November at the Albany County Hockey Facility, located next to the airport at 830 Albany Shaker Rd. The first drive-thru date is Nov. 7, and the second is Nov. 14.
These socially- distanced toy drives will allow Toys for Tots to collect toys for distribution to children in need, as safely as possible. People who wish to participate can bring a new, unwrapped toy to the Hockey Facility on one of the scheduled days between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The toys can be dropped off from the safety and comfort of your own vehicle.
The drive-thru collections are made possible through the partnership with Albany County. Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy is happy to be part of the growing team that is working so hard to provide Christmas toys for children in need.
“This mission is more important than ever this year,” McCoy said. “Any other year is difficult enough. This year is especially so.
As a show of thanks for supporting the community, Dunkin’ will give every family that participates in the toy drives a complimentary $5 Dunkin’ gift card and a 10-pack of holiday Munchkins. Local radio station B-95.5 will play festive holiday music from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. on each day.
“This year, we expect the need to be even greater as families face financial hardships due to COVID-19,” stated Marine Gunnery Sgt. (ret.) Albert Roman, coordinator of the Capital Region Toys for Tots campaign. “Thank you to Dunkin’ for leading the way. It’s one thing to help; it’s another thing to stay ahead.”
At the campaign kickoff, Dunkin’ Field Marketing Director Eric Stensland and local franchise owners presented Toys for Tots with a check for $30,000 for the purchase of toys. Since 2009, Dunkin’ has donated a total of $350,000 to the annual campaigns.
“I can’t say there’s a more worthwhile cause than Toys for Tots,” Stensland said.
To further ensure everyone’s safety during the toy drives and the sorting, packing, and delivering of the toys that will ensue, Quick Response is putting their electrostatic environmentally safe sanitizing sprayers to use.
“If you know us, you know that Christmas is a really big deal for us. We’re happy to be part of this partnership,” said Quick Response CEO Vince Laurenzo.
The sprayers will be used to clean all workspaces during the toy collection campaign, including the toy drop zones, offices, and warehouse areas. Everything, including the toys, will be sprayed with the safe disinfectant solution.
“The green-based disinfectant is key for this campaign,” Laurenzo explained. “You can spray anything, even stuffed animals, and it won’t”hurt them.”
Destination Nissan and Kia are providing vehicles for transport this year. After toys are collected at the drive-thru events, they will be loaded into vans that will drive the toys to the warehouse that is the base of operations for Toys for Tots. The warehouse is a donation from the Wayne Wagner family. From there, the toys will be disinfected, sorted, and prepared for distribution.
Assemblywoman Mary Beth
Walsh spoke in support of Toys for Tots, and reminded everyone that if people are not comfortable going into stores to shop, donations to Toys for Tots can be made directly online.
“These guys are too humble to say it, so I’m going to say it for them - this local program is the number one Toys for Tots in the nation,” Walsh said proudly.
“And this year, because of COVID, the impact is going to be even greater.”
The Capital Region Toys for Tots boasts a 97:3 ratio for campaign spending, meaning that for every dollar donated, 97 cents goes directly to buying toys.
Roman and Stensland expressed their gratitude to the community and the many sponsors and partners of Toys for Tots and implored people to help out as much as they can this year.
“It’s so important to give back,” said Stensland. “We’re really asking the community to help out this holiday season.”
“This is the Capital Region, and this is what we do - we come together,” Roman said passionately. “The community brings Christmas to these kids. The Marines don’t fail, and as a community, we prevail. COVID or not, this is about one thing and one thing only - showing the kids in our community that there’s a better tomorrow.”