Nahant firefighters help get toys for kids, supplies for troops

NAHANT-The Nahant Firefighters Union is pitching in to help Santa and the U.S. Marine Corps provide toys to needy children this holiday season.The Nahant Firefighters Association Local 2718 has been participating in Toys for Tots for at least a decade, according to Lt. Dean Palumbo.?We’ve always had a good response,” he said. “Some of the toys stay right here in town to meet the need here.”New unwrapped toys may be dropped off between now and Dec. 22 at the Nahant Fire Department, 67 Flash Road. The firefighters will also have a truck in the Nahant Christmas Parade on Dec. 22 that toys may be deposited in.The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program started in 1947 when a Marine recruiter in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The 1947 pilot project was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign and the Marines have conducted successful nationwide campaigns each year since. In 1948, Walt Disney designed the Toys for Tots logo, which is still in use today.During the 2006 Toys for Tots campaign more than 19 million toys were distributed to 7.6 million needy children. Over the 59 years of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, Marines have distributed more than 370 million toys.Local children are not the only ones benefiting from the generosity of Nahant firefighters. The firefighters recently shipped more than 500 pounds of much needed supplies to troops overseas.