Bring on the toys!
Locals donated more than 3,000 toys for children at the 41st Assembly District Democratic Club’s 15th-annual Toys for Tots drive at the club’s headquarters in Marine Park on Dec. 19.
This drive was the biggest one yet, according to an organizer, who said the club’s donations may be one of the largest hauls for the program renowned for distributing toys to disadvantaged kids at the holidays.
“It has grown every year,” said Morgan Eisen, a member of the club. “We’re the biggest contributor for Toys for Tots, I believe, for New York state.”
The political club collects the toys at its headquarters and hands most of them over to the Toys for Tots organization, but club members also had the opportunity to personally give out some toys to local kids. Eisen said the club is trying to distribute many of the goods locally — and she said the club is trying to distribute toys before the holidays so the kids can open their presents on Christmas morning.
“The last two years we actually had a couple local kids come down and we were able to give them their toys on site so they were able to have them for the holidays,” she said, adding that there is no present greater than seeing the youngsters’ smiling faces when they receive their gifts. “Just seeing the kids’ faces makes it all worth it.”
