‘ TRUE SERVANT LEADER’
Young man’s toy drive brings McAlester community together
“I wanted to make sure no kid was left out of Christmas and they all had a toy under their tree.”
Reed Marcum
Reed Marcum was just a fifth grader when he really started to show off his charitable nature.
It was on a small scale at the start, but it didn’t take long before something special arose.
“First, I had started my book bag giveaway,” he said. “And I noticed that not all of my classmates had enough school supplies to go through the first semester. So of course when Christmas rolled around, I realized Christmas was going to be a tough time for everyone.”
Marcum decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I wanted to make sure no kid was left out of Christmas and they all had a toy under their tree,” he said.
So Marcum launched a toy drive as part of his National 4-H Council youth project in his hometown of McAlester in southeast Oklahoma.
Each year, the 18-year-old holds a toy drive at the McAlester Expo Center – the most recent one was on Dec. 9. Hundreds of volunteers assist Marcum, and it’s become a huge event for the community. Each kid who shows up gets one toy, and heading into the last drive, more than 54,000 gifts had been handed out.
“McAlester has not always been a tight-knit group, but I think ever since I started my service projects, it grew this community,” Marcum said.
Marcum is a freshman at Oklahoma State University.
He had to overcome his share of obstacles during his childhood as he struggled with ADHD and social anxiety. And during his senior year of high school, his grandmother and his 4-H mentor passed away. His older brother, who was in Alaska as a member of the Army, also died. That was just before one of the toy drives, but it didn’t stop Marcum from leading it.
Despite all those challenges, Marcum’s passion for the drive is as high as ever.
And although he lives in Stillwater and is attending college, everything is running smoothly.
“Of course it’s going to be a lot more difficult,” Marcum said. “But I have a great support group in McAlester, along with family and friends that are there to help and push me and help me the whole way.”
Marcum has lots of help, which makes it easier to operate despite him living more than two hours away from McAlester.
“Hundreds of volunteers we have come over and come out to help us during the actual event,” he said. “But we have many volunteers throughout the entire year to set up and get toys for the toy giveaway.”
Any kid can show up to the drive and receive something as long, as they’re under 18. The drive includes a variety of toys. It also has things like headphones for teenagers.
“We get the toys from all across Oklahoma,” Marcum said. “We get toys from local businesses, local individuals that are a part of the community that donate. We buy toys that we can find for good deals when we go shopping and such.
“But the mass majority of everything we collect and everything is from donations made from national businesses, local businesses and local community members.”
The toy drive isn’t the only endeavor Marcum is involved in. He has several others.
Greg Owen, a 4-H educator in Pittsburg County, has been nothing but impressed with Marcum.
Owen has seen Marcum’s progression from a timid kid to what he is today, a well-spoken and poised adult. Among one of Marcum’s best talents is public speaking. He’s competed in contests and thrived.
“Reed is a natural public speaker,” Owen said. “Very natural giving speeches, talking in front of people.”
Marcum also has developed a skill at spreading the word of his projects through social media.
“One of the things he’s known for – for all of his service work – is he makes videos on Facebook,” Owen said. “Reed does not have Facebook, so he would use his mom’s Facebook, and that would help him get the word out.”
Marcum plans to continue building on what he’s done.
Owen summarized Marcum pretty well, calling him a “true servant leader.”
“He lives to serve others,” Owen said. “That’s what motivates him. And then because of his leadership and his social media presence, the community has started throughout the years to build and grow behind him.”