Say the word, “Marine,” and you think of a real tough man or woman

able to take down a formidable enemy with little more than bare hands. So, the words “toys” and “tots” don’t seem to go with “Marine.”

But since 1947, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program has brought toys to children who would not otherwise have something under the tree. Or a tree, either.

Just like the Marine Corps, the Toys for Tots program has a focus:

“The mission of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is to assist the U. S. Marine Corps in providing a tangible sign of hope to economically disadvantaged children at Christmas,” their website states. Since

1947, the organization says 400 million toys have been given to 188 million children in need.

Big job. Tough guys and gals, indeed.

In order to complete their mission, the Toys for Tots program has reached out to charitable groups throughout the country. In Baldwin and Escambia counties, the coordinator is Shinora Redmond of

Empowerment Tabernacle Christian Church in Atmore.

“We assist the Marines,”she said, noting with the conflicts in the world, the Marines are stretched so thin civilian coordinators associated with local charities are used to run the program.

Although she’s not a Marine, she knows what it is like for a child to wake up without toys on Christmas.

“I went without Christmas from the time I was 7 years old,” she said. “It wasn’t until I had my own child that I realized how much it hurt.”

The program does not give directly to the children. Redmond says the new, donated toys are “given to the parents. We put (the toys) in bags, so parents can put them under the tree.” Each child gets two or

three gifts, with the gifts ranging in value from $10 to $30.

Redmond’s Toys for Tots group provided toys for 3,000 children last year, and she said demand “looks to be up. I know that Ecumenical Ministries is already at what they had last year.”

That’s really too bad, says Sgt. Richard Roper of the Foley Police

Department.

“(Christmas) is a chance to give back. Because of Toys for Tots, a lot of kids will have a chance for toys their parents won’t be able to give them,” he said.

The deadline to donate to Toys for Tots is Dec. 15. The deadline for requesting help has passed. In this area, donations of new, unwrapped toys can be brought to The United States Sports Academy, Dress Barn stores and Uncle Bob’s Storage in Foley.

For more information, e-mail empowerment@frontiernet.net, or call 850-982-7529.

Although not a Marine, and not affiliated with the Marine Corps’ toy

drive, Danielle Burke, a senior at Robertsdale High is running her own version of the well-known program out of the Loxley library. She is doing this a part of a service project for school.

“I started taking donations before Thanksgiving,” said Burke. She selected the Loxley library as her base of operations as she lives closer to that facility.

While the student was hesitant at first to ask for help, “Everybody has said yes.”

Burke will be sending her donations to Catholic Charities. She has donation canisters set up at area Cain’s grocery stores. Unwrapped new toys and books can be dropped off at the Loxley Public

Library. Used books will be given to the library for their book sale.

Burke learned a lesson in giving. While checking the donation boxes at a local store, she didn’t find much.

“There was only $7 and I was kind of upset,” Burke said. “But at another location there was more than $70, and that made me feel a lot better.”

She’s set up a paper tree in the library to track donations, and plans to have a children’s party in the library Dec. 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Burke hopes to become a librarian herself. She’s heading to Faulkner State Community College after graduation and will transfer to a four-year school after that.

But, Burke has already learned an important lesson.

“I really became aware of people who need things for Christmas,” she said, uncurling two “Christmas lists” that were stuffed into a donation box. They outlined the wish for some simple toys for 

Christmas.

“I think I can take care of these myself,” she said.