Toys for Tots

You'll notice on my sidebar, there is a new button. Clicking that button will take you directly to the Toys for Tots "Donate Online" page. Once you're there, you can click through the website to learn more about the Toys for Tots program.

Its been a program that has been occassionally abused, its one of hundreds of programs competing for your attention this year, but its also a program that is worth donating too.

In our first year of marriage, our family( my two oldest girls)beneffitted from the Toys for Tots program. One doesn't marry a Marine for his income, and a Marine doesn't marry a single mother of Two with no college degree for her income potential. It was really difficult to accept the gifts. We felt embarrassed, frankly. We had planned a very small, very happy christmas with what we had and we were happy to be together and to share in the love we had in our home. I'm still unclear as to how we came to recieve Toys for Tots in our home. We hadn't registered to recieve them, but anybody who was a junior rank automatically qualified so it could be that the company XO or some other person had submitted our name, I don't know. What I do know is that our children recieved gifts that were far better than we probably would have purchased given a more robust budget for the year. We were truly amazed at the generosity, especially considering how many family's were receiving these gifts.

The next few years we were no longer in the Marine Corps, and while we may have qualified for the assistance, we never felt to register. We truly believe in keeping Christmas more about giving than recieving, and have tried to instill in our children a sense of appreciation for the things they have rather than the things they don't have.

About 2 years ago, we finally found ourselves in a position to be able to donate for other children. You can't imagine how much joy we felt the first time we dropped off bags full of carefully chosen gifts to that donation truck. We were so pleased with our then 3 year old Gabriel and the excitement he showed for chosing and then giving the toys away. We look forward each year to that special shopping trip and the feelings we get from doing something that we don't benefit from,(but having an appreciation for the feelings of those who will benefit).

There are many worthy organizations available to give your time and money to this Christmas. If you are having difficulty chosing one, I would recommend Toys for Tots. And if you can't go out and take part in the joy of chosing the actual toys, I would encourage you to click on that bear above and make a donation online.

Merry Christmas!--The Cave Hair Clan