NAHANT – From now till a week prior to Christmas, people can bring their new and unwrapped toys to the Nahant Fire Department. Nahant Fire Fighters Local 2718 is collecting toys again for the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program.
“When it gets to a point where the (collection) box is full. We’ll call them (Marine Corps), and they’ll come here and bring it to their warehouse,” said Nick Papagelis, President of Nahant Fire Fighter Association.
Nahant Fire Fighters Association assists the U.S. Marine Corps in collecting toys, and the Marine Corps distribute them to less fortunate children. 2022 is the 75th Toys for Tots. The program started in 1947 and has supported 281 million children.
“We’ve gotten like board games, action figures, and toy fire trucks, stuff like that,” said Papagelis. Nahant Fire Fighters Association has been a part of this program for a couple of decades. Usually, the start of December or the end of November is when they start to collect toys.
“A lot of people in the community and community groups assist us in doing that. A women’s club has an event where they collected toys and then bring them to us. We usually collect quite a bit of toys.” Papagelis appreciated help from the community.
For people who are not able to donate to a drop box, there is a virtual way to donate directly to the Marine “Toys for Tots Foundation: https://www.toysfortots.org/virtualtoybox/.
