AAA South Jersey is teaming up with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation this holiday season to help less fortunate children experience the joy of the holidays. Through Dec. 19, customers can drop off new, unwrapped toys in the toy drive donation bin prominently placed in the lobby of all four AAA South Jersey locations.
Once collected, the toys are taken to a distribution center where toys are sorted by age and gender, wrapped, and distributed to needy children in the local area.
“We hope that AAA members and the community will open their hearts so every child in the community can enjoy the thrill of opening a present on Christmas morning,” said Carol Scott, CEO of AAA South Jersey. “We are thrilled to be a part of the Toys for Tots program and be working with the Marine Corps Reserve to help make those experiences happen.”
Toys for Tots collection locations will be at the AAA offices located at 700 Laurel Oak Road in Voorhees; in the Mill Pond Village Shopping Center, 380 Egg Harbor Road in Sewell; The Shoppes at Pureland at Beckett Center, 525 Beckett Road in Logan Township.; and at Union Lake Crossing Shopping Center, 2190 North 2nd St., in Millville.
The primary goal of the Toys for Tots program is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate children that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive and patriotic citizens. Since the inception of Toys for Tots, more than 400 million toys have been distributed to more than 188 million needy children.
The Toys for Tots program was founded in 1947 by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. William L. Hendricks, when Hendricks and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles first collected and distributed 5,000 toys to children. The following year, the Marine Corps Reserve adopted the concept and made it a national endeavor.
