LIHU‘E — People waiting to contribute to the Toys for Tots campaign are able to drop off their contributions at any of the Kaua‘i fire stations, said Capt. Rod Green of the U.S. Marine Corps League that coordinates the Toys for Tots campaign on Kaua‘i.
“More importantly, families and nonprofit groups needing toys for Christmas can register online at www.toysfortots.org,” Green said. “We don’t want anyone to fall through the cracks.”
Green’s announcement was made Sunday when he and a group of volunteers — four recently-crowned beauty queens, including Little Miss Garden Isle Sophia Gregg, Little Miss Kaua‘i Hi‘ilei Berg, Junior Miss Kaua‘i Colbie Cortez, and Junior Miss Garden Isle Kailea Gregg — closed the Toys for Tots collection site at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center.
“The girls didn’t realize they had to work so hard,” said Devi Berg, Hi‘ilei’s mom. “Now, they’re hungry! It’s a good thing one of the moms brought food. And, we’re late for a Scout meeting.”
Among the string of contributors in the drive-thru drop-off, the Disc Golf Kaua‘i ‘Ohana was over the moon with joy and excitement as they unloaded more than $2,700 in toys that was raised during a one-day disc golf tournament featuring 32 players.
“We’ve done toy drives for the past three years,” said Ryan Jacobsmeyer of Disc Golf Kaua‘i ‘Ohana. “But we’ve never had this many toys. This is more than double of what we did last year. This is just one way we can give back to the community that supports us.”
Other contributors with sizeable collections started rolling in Friday when Cheryl Perreira and her family dropped off more than $3,000 worth of toys and funds, a large part of that collection being made during the Toys for Tots collection station at The Grove Farm Market at Puhi Park.
“The trailer is dirty,” said Bryanna Perreira, one of Cheryl’s daughters. “Last year, we had everything on a trailer, but we didn’t have time to clean it, this year so everything is in the cars.”
Faith Campbell of Wilcox Health closed off her busy week by dropping off four collection bins of toys from Wilcox Medical, Friday as one of the team’s final chores for the workweek.
“Wow!” Capt. Green said. “What an exciting weekend. During the course of the campaign, we received a big contribution from the Toys for Tots Foundation in addition to these generous donations. Because of all this generosity, we are able to extend the invitation to families and nonprofit organizations to register if they need toys. We want to give away all the toys.”
Finally, for those who want to contribute to the Toys for Tots, contributions can be dropped off at any of the Kaua‘i fire stations.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
