An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

News | Dec. 17, 2024

Bringing Christmas joy to Children in El Paso, Texas

NCOLCoE

Fort Bliss, TX  –   The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve has a 77-year history donating toys to less fortunate children. Maj. (Retired) Bill Hendricks is the father of the Toys for Tots program. In 1947, his wife, Diane, asked him to donate a few hand-crafted dolls to children who may be forgotten during Christmas. Upon hearing that no organization existed that helped these children, she encouraged her husband to start one. That first year, over 5,000 toys were collected and given to underprivileged children in the Los Angeles area.

1st Sgt. John Trickler has served in the Marine Corps for 19 years and has been familiar with the Toys for Tots program since his childhood when he and his brother were recipients of two toys from the program. The impact of the U.S. Marines walking off his porch Christmas morning helped inspire him to become a Marine himself. As a current student at the Sergeants Major Academy (SGM-A), he brought the Marine Corps Reserve tradition of donating toys during Christmas with him.

Trickler’s hope for organizing the toy drive on campus was to promote the program and take it from national to a global scale, as there are international students from 55 countries attending the Sergeants Major Course. Trickler reminds us, “at one point we were all kids, and every child deserves a little Christmas.”

Together, the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence and the SGM-A collected over 350 toys that will go to children in the local military and civilian communities. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots El Paso, Texas distributed 20,748 toys to 19,637 children in 2023. This year’s campaign has collected roughly 27,000 toys to be given to 23,000 local children. To date, the Toys for Tots Foundation has distributed 677 million toys to 301 million deserving children.

Readers interested in more information on how to donate toys, become a volunteer or request gifts for their children with the Toys for Tots Foundation are encouraged to visit https://www.toysfortots.org or https://el-paso-tx.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/local-faq.aspx.