Local businesses accepting donations for Toys for Tots

Going on for more than a half-century now, the Toys for Tots drive is going on in St. Marys, with volunteers asking for toys to give to needy families this year for Christmas.

The local Goodfellows and the U.S. Marine Corp Reserves have been proudly upholding this tradition for years now, always willing to lend a hand for this event. Jim Christman of Plus One Professionals is the coordinator for the drive and he’s glad to be a part of this nationwide movement.

“What we do is we have boxes that we set out among companies and businesses for people to donate new toys in the original packaging unwrapped,” said Christman as being the basics of the drive. “We coordinate with the Goodfellows here in St. Marys and drop off and deliver those toys to families who are in need.”

The goal is every year is to deliver those toys either on Christmas or Christmas Eve, with this year being the latter. The initiative doesn’t have too strict of criteria on what they’re willing to accept, though they do have some rules in place, especially when it comes to the what kind of toys can be donated.

“And it could be other than things than toys too, like for the older kids, sometimes it would be personal products, jewelry, watches, things like that,” Christman stated. “Typically, we want to stay away from plush animals, that type of thing, because those tend to carry disease and things like that.”

The drive wants to make sure that what the kids get is not only in good shape, but also safe, so these measures are put into place for those reasons. Other than that, though, anything will be accepted as long it’s new and appears to be clean, with no limit placed on price.

This is Christman’s 10th year with the initiative after moving to the city of St. Marys. After being contacted by someone involved with Toys

for Tots, he ended up becoming a big part of it every year since.

“I originally worked with my wife in the Secret Santa program in Columbus for probably 15 years,” explained Christman. The call came after he and his wife moved back to St. Marys, receiving an offer to work and eventually take over the yearly drive. The previous coordinator had run it for about 15 years beforehand when he took over.

Christman hopes that they’ll be able to help plenty of families this year, though he does also pray that not as many will need it. While they were able to help around 320 families last year, it was during a particularly tough year on many different families.

“Well, the hope is to not have to exceed [last years number],” said Christman.

“We hope that there is more people employed and not in need this year. Last year, of course, we were dealing with the pandemic, so it was a very odd year as far as that goes.”

Christman is very thankful for all of the help that Toys for Tots, whether it’s the business and volunteers participating in the collection or those who donate each year. The drive is going on from now till Dec. 19, and he hopes what they can do until then is enough for the families that need it.

The boxes for Toys for Tots can be found in many business or local organizations, so be on the lookout for them if you have plans to donate. If you want to help support the drive in another way, feel free to contact Mike Makley at 419-394-5693 or contact Christman himself at xman11@bright.net.