LYNN — Local residents donate generously every year to the annual toy drive and there is no reason this year should be an exception, said one of the drive’s lead organizers.
Sgt. Major Kenneth Oswald, English High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) senior Marine instructor, and his cadets will launch their “Blanket for Warmth, Toys for Smiles” drive on Saturday, Nov. 7. The drive will be held every Saturday through Dec. 5, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., in English High’s parking lot by the tennis courts.
Donation tables will be set up and drivers will pull up and hand unwrapped toys and new blankets to waiting cadets.
“My cadet leaders came up with the idea. They said, ‘So many kids need a smile on their face,'” Oswald said.
Cadets will adhere to COVID-19 precautions with four uniformed cadets and a parent wearing masks and practicing social distancing while they collect toys and blankets. A new parent/cadet team will be rotated into duty every 45 minutes.
Like nearly every other facet of life, this year’s toy collection is different from previous drives when toy donors dropped toys off at English High. Oswald credited the school’s 35 cadets with taking a positive attitude this school year and approaching the toy drive as a challenge.
“I’m impressed with their problem solving,” he said.
Popular for its drill demonstrations at Memorial Day and Veterans Day commemorations, JROTC is a character-building and community service opportunity that English junior Melanie Rivera embraced in her freshman year.
A cadet leader with the rank of staff sergeant, Rivera has participated in language translation projects organized by cadets and she created a theme poster for this year’s toy drive.
“The pandemic has affected everyone, especially the kids, and Christmas is the time for giving,” she said.
The November-long toy and blanket collection will coincide with plans to distribute toys beginning Dec. 1, said Solimine Funeral Home founder David J. Solimine Sr.
A local holiday toy drive organizer who has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Salvation Army’s Item Santa, Solimine credited JROTC with mobilizing the holiday donation drive.
“It’s all for needy families,” he said.
