State College, PA – Centre County Toys for Tots Has Urgent Need for Community Support –

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt Centre County Toys for Tots some unique challenges, and with time running out the organization’s annual effort to provide gifts to about 9,000 local children has an urgent need for toy and monetary donations, as well as volunteers.

“I think that we are going to have shortfalls,” said Gene Weller, who has coordinated Centre County Toys for Tots since its founding 34 years ago. He added that the need among families is “at least as great as usual” this year.

The campaign has about 100 fewer collection sites than past years around the county and its reserve account has been almost wiped out as it moved up operations by nearly a month because Penn State is ending in-person classes for the semester after Nov. 20.

“The Navy ROTC provides a lot of manpower for us,” said Weller, a retired Marine Corps major and longtime local Allstate insurance agent. “We have over 50 collection points around the campus and thought that if we didn’t move it up a month we would be missing out on a lot of that.”

Toys can be donated at approximately 200 collection sites around the county until Nov. 13. Because of its close relationship with local food banks, Centre County Toys for Tots also encourages food donations. Donors are asked to take items directly to food banks if they can, but they can also also bring them to the toy collection sites.

Typically Centre County Toys for Tots maintains a $10,000 reserve and uses donations over that from the previous year to purchase toys directly from wholesalers. With the adjusted timeframe and fewer collection sites, Weller said he anticipated donations at collection sites would be lower. Needing to purchase toys in September, Toys for Tots spent last year’s donations and dipped deep into the reserve.

“Now that reserve is down to about $3,000,” Weller said. “So we’ve got the added need of monetary donations are going to be needed so that we’re going to be able to do this again next year.”

Monetary donations are held by the Marine Toys for Tots foundation in an account for the local organization. Donations can be made online or checks can be made payable to Marine Toys for Tots and sent to Gene Weller c/o Allstate Insurance, 1380 N. Atherton St. State College, PA 16803.

The QR code below also will direct to the Toys for Tots donation site for the Centre County organization.

Centre County Toys for Tots usually provides four items for every child identified by Centre County food pantries, as well as two items per grandchild for eligible grandparents identified by the county Office of Adult Services. Those who aren’t registered in time for distribution at food pantries are still able to go to the “unregistered site” in the Hills Plaza. 

Toys that are left over are then made available to about 45 social services agencies like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Easterseals and Children and Youth Services.

Last year, the Toys for Tots foundation began providing the Centre County organization with about $20,000 more in toys than in past years. Weller said that it resulted in about 3,000 left over toys that needed to be distributed or the organization would not receive support from the foundation the following year.

Neighboring Mifflin County has never had an official Toys for Tots campaign and Weller found the county has about 2,500 children on free lunch programs. Working with Rev. John Harwood, a State College resident who is priest-in-charge at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Lewistown, toys from the Centre County campaign were distributed to those children as well, with Glen O. Hawbaker providing a truck for transportation.

Weller said he is hoping to provide the same amount of toys to Mifflin County again this year.

For the next week Weller encourages residents to drop off toy donations at collection sites. But after that monetary donations are welcomed.

“If they do miss the opportunity to drop off a toy, having monetary donations is really going to be important for us,” Weller said. “If we really came up short this year on toys, some of these wholesalers could have toys to me in one to two days. If I’ve got the monetary resources then we can go out and buy them. I’m hoping we’ll have enough and we’ll just be trying to rebuild the coffers so we’re able to do this next year.”

The traditional wrapping and labeling of toys by hundreds of volunteers also is modified this year. Instead they will be sorted and bagged at the Penn Stater Nov. 14-17 with a maximum of 75 volunteers per session. Food donations also will be sorted. Local fire companies will then deliver the bags to food pantries for distribution. 

Pre-registration is required to volunteer. Dates, times and instructions are available here.