Through Dec. 18, each person who donates a new, unwrapped toy to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign at a AAA South Jersey office will be entered to win a pair of tickets to a private screening of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The private screening will be held in mid-January at a theater in Voorhees.
The Toys for Tots Foundation helps less fortunate children experience the joy of the holidays. 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, including the Voorhees location at 700 Laurel Oak Road.
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.
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.
