by steve young
They pop up seemingly everywhere this time of year: Large corrugated collection boxes for the annual Marine Corps Toys for Tots toy drive for underprivileged kids. I saw my first one of the Christmas Season recently at my local Ford dealership in Front Royal, Virginia, as I was waiting for my truck to be serviced. Mottled-white, printed two colors, 32 ECT C-flute, and manufactured by Welch Packaging Group of Elkhart, Indiana.
Scott Welch, President of Welch Packaging, says his company’s involvement in the national Toys for Tots drive began nearly 30 years ago, when one of his designers, Norm Heaton, an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve, volunteered for the local Toys for Tots chapter in Elkhart. “He elevated our involvement in the early 2000s to a national level,” Scott explained, “and we have donated this work now for almost 30 consecutive years.”
Toys for Tots began in 1947 as the brainchild of Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks. Hendricks’s wife Diane had a few handcrafted dolls and asked Bill to deliver them to an agency that supports children in need. When Bill reported back to his wife that he could not find such an organization, she instructed him to “start one!” That year, Major Hendricks and the Marines in his reserve unit in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys.
Seeing such a successful community engagement, the Commandant of the Marine Corps Reserve in 1948 directed all Marine Reserve Sites to implement a TFT campaign, transforming it into a national community action program. Today, the Toys for Tots Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) charity, oversees the annual drive. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Triangle, Virginia, the Foundation’s primary goal is to help bring the joy of Christmas to America’s economically disadvantaged children through the gift of a new toy. The Foundation supports nearly 800 local Toys for Tots Coordinators and their related community groups. According to the Foundation’s website, there are today nearly 40,000 Marines, Marine Corps League members, veteran Marines and volunteers involved in the annual toy drive campaign. In 2023, the Foundation delivered a record-breaking 25.5 million toys, books and games to 10.3 million economically disadvantaged children. In addition to this annual toy drive, the Foundation has programs for the advancement of Native Americans, promotion of literacy, disaster recovery and response, a youth ambassador program and foster care initiatives.
The Toys for Tots Foundation is supported by sponsorship from national and regional corporate and individual donors. Major consumer brands, OEM manufacturers, natural resource companies, transportation and other sectors of the Fortune 100 are listed as long-time supporters. The corrugated industry is represented by Welch Packaging, WestRock, and WestRock’s antecedent, RockTenn. For Welch, it’s an annual run of 100,000 boxes, facilitated by the company’s 21 manufacturing sites in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. “It’s a lot of logistics,” Scott says of the manufacture and distribution, but it is a core value of the company’s mission. “This work,” he said, “is core to our ‘cause’ at Welch: To make a difference in our customers’ business, our associates’ lives and in our communities.”
For more information about the Toys for Tots Foundation, visit www.toysfortots.org. For more information about Welch Packaging Group, visit www.welchpkg.com.
