Nahant toy drive donations down significantly

NAHANT – Donations to the annual Nahant Firefighters Association Local #2718 toy drive for Toys for Tots are down by 75 percent this year.Nahant Firefighters Association President Kevin Howard said the group has been collecting toys for more than a decade and this year fewer donations are coming in.”I think a lot of it is the economy,” he said. “Last year we collected more than 200 toys and we’ve only collected about 40 this year. Most of the donations we gather are distributed locally and there is a real need this year so we are encouraging everyone who can to drop off new unwrapped toys.”Toys, cash and checks may be dropped off between now and midnight on Dec. 23 at the Nahant Fire Department, 67 Flash Road.Essex County Toys for Tots Coordinator Lee Coddens said donations are down everywhere in Essex County this year but he’s not giving up hope.”I’ve been doing this for nine years and been the coordinator for two years,” he said. “We have never ever let the children of Essex County down. Every year people come through for us. We’re Marines. We don’t say no to kids in Essex County.”Coddens said last year Toys for Tots distributed 13,000 toys to children in Essex County and he expects the demand to top 15,000 this year.”The demand is up by 10 to 15 percent from last year,” he said. “Fire departments in Lynn, Nahant and Swampscott are the best place to drop off toys, money and checks.”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.