Toys Help Brighten The Season

Tired of exams and deadlines? I realize a lot of students are starting to become overwhelmed with the fast pace work of the semester, as its end is fast approaching. The holiday season has become the mark that all college students are anxious about and overjoyed with the idea of receiving a break. Now pause from your mental image of homemade food and your family’s perfect Christmas tree. What if this was all gone and there were no presents to give to anyone and your holiday seemed full of heartache and disappointment instead of cheer. Imagine you are a young child and Santa just hasn’t made it again this year. This is the scenario for thousands of young children nationwide during the holiday season.

There are many due to unfortunate circumstances aren’t as happy as many of us when the holidays roll around.  Are you asking yourself what can you do to help? Well, the time for shopping and gift giving is right around the corner, and what better way to get into the spirit than by spreading the cheer to someone else? Toys for Tots, in association with Bloomsburg University students, will be bringing in the holiday cheer early this year with a toy drive beginning Friday October 16th through December 16th. You can contribute to a generous cause of helping a child in need by purchasing just a single toy during your holiday shopping. This can be the equivalent of the money you were going to spend on that shirt you will never wear or your indulgence on six cups of Starbucks coffee. Organization members as well as volunteer students will be collecting toys and donations on campus to be distributed to underprivileged children in the Bloomsburg area during this holiday season.  These toys will be going to young children who live in a households with insufficient funds or tight incomes. Last year Toys for Tots helped distribute toys to over 4300 families in a five county area (Montour, Columbia, Snyder, Union, and Northumberland). Each child gets approximately eight items that include two large toys, two small toys, a game, a book, stuffed animal and a bag of stocking stuffers. Toys of all kinds in good condition are needed for the drive. The opportunity to distribute a larger variety of toys is available based on how many donations received, so volunteers are strongly needed. Students and interested supporters can drop toys off at boxes that will be placed around campus in the dorms, service areas, and dining halls labeled “Toys for Tots.”

Though a good cause, the organization process has become strenuous over the years. Organization leader Kim Schmitz says, “We spend a lot of time driving around, dropping off and/or meeting families to pick up toys.” The organization welcomes any students or volunteers able to assist in distribution. Due to present decline in economy the quality of toys has changed preventing Toys for Tots ability to supply bikes to needy children last holiday season. As college students we struggle to get good grades and remain stress free, yet our worries and contemplations are minor compared to those of families in need. As students at Bloomsburg Universities help we can all make a difference by providing toys to children in need during this holiday season. Support Toys for Tots and help make someone’s holiday a little bit brighter.