Toys for Tots short of 'mission' days before Christmas
Officials say the U.S. Marines' Toys for Tots campaign urgently needs donations of toys to meet its "mission" to deliver Christmas presents to needy children in nine Triangle counties.
Posted — UpdatedThere aren't enough toys in the charity's Raleigh distribution center to go out to all the children in the nine counties served, said Lee Cox, a Toys for Tots spokesman.
"We don't have enough toys to meet the mission," Cox said.
Normally, Cox said, reserve Marines, local social workers and church members would have been out distributing toys on Saturday. But this year, they hadn't collected enough toys to start the operation.
"We have to be able to get these toys in and distribute them no later than Tuesday, and that's pretty late," Cox said.
For 61 years, Marine Corps reservists have given new, unwrapped toys to needy children. It is "a message of hope" aimed at motivating children "to grow into responsible, patriotic citizens and community leaders," according to the national group's Web site.
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