KFYR-TV has teamed up with Tots for Tots to collect new toys for less fortunate children in our community this Christmas. We are asking for your help! Simply drop off NEW, unwrapped toys into the big white boxes at any one of sponsors listed below in Bismarck and Mandan. Children will receive the presents starting December 18th. Last year, over 1,500 toys were collected and given to area children in time for Christmas.

Drop off locations:
Big Lots
Family Dollar Stores
Days Inn
Gateway Mall
Discover Health Chiropractic
Community Options
Midway Lanes
Famous Dave’s
United Blood Services
KFYR-TV

History of Toys for Tots

Toys for Tots began in 1947 when Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The idea came from Bill's wife, Diane. In the fall of 1947, Diane handcrafted a Raggedy Ann doll and asked Bill to deliver the doll to an organization, which would give it to a needy child at Christmas. When Bill determined that no agency existed, Diane told Bill that he should start one. He did. The 1947 pilot project was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign. That year, Marine Corps Reserve units across the nation conducted Toys for Tots campaigns in each community in which a Marine Reserve Center was located. Marines have conducted successful nationwide campaigns at Christmas each year since 1948. The initial objective that remains the hallmark of the program today is to "bring the joy of Christmas to America's needy children." From Christmas 1980 through the present, Marines have collected and distributed only new toys.

In the late 1980s, the Marine Corps determined that a non-profit charity was needed as an integral part of the overall national Toys for Tots program. Based on this need, the Secretary of Defense, in August 1991, authorized the Marine Corps to recognize and work with a charity committed to supporting Toys for Tots. Based on this approval, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation became an operational organization in September 1991 and has been the fund raising and support organization for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program since that date.

In 1995, the Secretary of Defense approved Toys for Tots as an official activity of the U.S. Marine Corps and an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve.

Toys for Tots is celebrating its 62 nd anniversary of collecting toys for children across America.

© 2009 KFYR-TV

Home | News | Weather | Sports | Webcast | Morning News | Programming | Primetime Rewind | Advertising & Sales | About Us
Community Connection | Movies | Contests & Promotions | Search | Links | Contact Us | Follow us on: Facebook and twitter

Sister Stations: KMOT in Minot, KQCD in Dickinson, KUMV in Williston