ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — At her birthday party on Saturday, 9-year-old Katelyn Wilson is hoping to get a lot of toys; in fact, the more the better. There’s just one thing. She isn’t planning to keep any of them.

“I have enough stuff,” she said. “Most children barely have anything.”

Instead, Katelyn, the daughter of Laurie and Richard Wilson of Elsanor, whose actual birthday was Monday, plans to donate the toys to her local Toys for Tots organization.

“At first we were planning on donating toys to USA (Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile),” Laurie Wilson said. “But we decided that we weren’t going to be able to collect enough toys to distribute them to all the children, so we decided to do this instead.”

Toys for Tots, designated as an official activity of the U.S. Marine Corps, was founded in 1947 by Maj. Bill Hendricks and a group of Marine reservists in Los Angeles.

In the beginning, according to the website toysfortots.org, Marines collected and distributed new and used toys. Used toys were refurbished by Reservists on drill weekends during October, November and December. Beginning in 1980, Marines began collecting and distributing only new toys and a non-profit organization, the Toys for Tots Foundation, was created in August 1991 and began coordinating efforts in Christmas that year.

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. In 1996, Toys for Tots was expanded to cover all 50 states by authorizing selected Marine Corps League Detachments and selected local community organizations (generally veteran Marine), located in communities without a Marine Reserve Center, to conduct toy collection and distribution campaigns in their communities as part of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program.

Over the 62 years of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, Marines have distributed more than 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children. Over its 18 year life span, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation has supplemented local toy collections with more than 81.3 million toys valued at more than $487 million; plus has provided promotion and support materials valued at over $6.3 million.

The Wilsons are asking party goers on Saturday to bring a toy. Boys are asked to bring a toy for a boy, girls are asked to bring a toy for a girl. Toys can also be dropped off at Sea Breeze Salon in Robertsdale, Laurie Wilson said.

“As soon as they begin collecting toys, we will take the toys to a collection site,” she said.

Toys for Tots distribution centers will be located at Toys R Us and Babies R Us locations throughout Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia counties in Alabama and Escambia County , Florida. Go online for more information about setting up a distribution site or holding an official Toys for Tots collection event or contact local coordinator Shinora Redmond at 251-510-6684.