Ledger

Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Campus News

Ray Shepherd (left), Ed Troyer (middle) and Herman Swanson (right) organize toys in the Toys for Tots warehouse.

Top: the Toys for Tots warehouse is a veritable Santa's workshop full of toys.

Toys for Tots donation boxes.

Volunteers help organize toys in the warehouse.

Piles of board games, bags of stuffed animals, and colorfully boxed toys ranging rom puzzles to Barbie dolls filled the large room in rows neatly organized by age group and type.

But alas, it was not Santa's workshop. Those who were diligently organizing toys, answering phone calls and wrapping cardboard boxes while bantering back and forth were not Santa's elves.

No, this is an old warehouse in Pierce County, staffed by volunteers for this year's Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program that gathers donations from around Pierce County for distribution to needy children throughout the county.

"I've been helping out for two years. This year there are some student organizations from UWT volunteering [for Toys for Tots]" said Ray Shepherd, vice president of ASUWT and Junior Vice Commandant of the Marine Corps League of Detachment 504 that organizes Pierce County's Toys
for Tots program.

This holiday season, UWT students are involved in spreading holiday cheer to the less fortunate. Campus holiday drives include the coat drive organized by the Black Student Union, the Staff Association Holiday Service Project, and Toys for Tots.

The Coat Drive came to a close on Nov. 21, and the coats gathered during the drive were donated to the Tacoma Rescue Mission.

The Staff Association Holiday Service Project has boxes around campus for those interested in donating various items. The donations gathered during the Staff Association Holiday Service Project are designated to go to the Phoenix Housing Network, an organization that offers transitional housing, workshops, and basic education to families in Pierce County.

Student organizations that have joined ranks with Detachment 504 by volunteering their time to the Toys for Tots include ASUWT, Circle K, the Pre-Law Society and the ACLU. The Pierce County Sherriff's Department also helps to supply volunteers for the program.

Last year, the Toys for Tots program received over 18,000 toys to distribute to impoverished children in Pierce County, according to Herman Swanson, Jr., Detachment Senior Vice Commandant of the Marine Corps League, Pierce County Detachment 504.

This year they are hoping to receive even more.

"Last year we ran out of toys," said Shepherd. "It's hard to not be able to give every kid a gift."

Boxes for donations are located in various businesses in Pierce County. Toys must be in their original packaging in order to be distributed.

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