Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, Krismasi Njema. No matter what language, it all means the same thing: Merry Christmas. Like the hundreds of ways to say it, Christmas is celebrated hundreds of different ways all around the world. Some people light their houses as if they’re the Griswold’s in Christmas Vacation, while others focus more on the non-materialistic side. No matter how they do it, Christmas, for everyone usually includes presents.
Little kids stay up all hours, creeping around the house, waiting for Santa. Come Christmas morning, everyone sits around the tree watching the children grab present after present while they tear away at the colorful wrappings. For the families who can’t afford Christmas gifts, the holiday season can be hard.
That’s where Toys for Tots comes in.
The Toys for Tots event, a charity to bring toys to children in need in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, took place on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at the MISD Center for Performing Arts. This year, MISD collaborated with all 41 schools, local businesses, and city departments to bring joy to children.
Last December, MISD collected 16,000 toys and over $15,000 in monetary donations.
“All the schools really came together on this,” Jeanne Cassidy, director at the MISD Center said. “The city, police department, fire department and all the city vendors came together, and it’s really beneficial to the program.”
After the deadline was reached, Toys for Tots and their marine partners collected toys and delivered them to the warehouse for counting. Students donated thousands of new unwrapped toys to the cause this year and MISD totaled close to 20,000 toys and over $8,000.
Families who cannot afford toys for their children can go to the Toys for Tots website and request a toy for their child. By clicking the ‘request a toy’ button then selecting their address, individuals are re-directed to the website of their nearest Toys for Toys location. Then they can re-click the request a toy button and the website will give them a list of people to contact in order to get a toy for their child.
