Thanks to the generosity of the people of Polk County, the U. S. Marine Corp Reserve Toys for Tots program had another successful year of providing new, unwrapped toys to 9,338 underprivileged children. Through many efforts, 39,841 toys were collected in 2017.
This year we started a new and exciting High School Toy Drive Challenge for Polk County high schools. Mulberry High School was the winner during this inaugural year.
Volunteers put in more than 3,418 hours selecting toys and packing them for each family. Volunteers put toy collection boxes in 450 locations around the county and collected toys when the boxes were full.
In addition to the toy donation boxes, numerous businesses held events collecting toys for the program.
On behalf of all the volunteers working with the Toys for Tots program, we hope that our efforts provided a better Christmas for the 3,200 families that we served.
David R. Waller, Coordinator, Polk County U.S. Marine Corp Reserve Toys for Tots, Lakeland