What do Toys For Tots, Disney and First Lady Laura Bush have in common?
Read below to find the answer! The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is now in its 56th year. Toys for Tots began in 1947, when Major William L. (Bill) Hendricks, USMCR and a handful of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children on Christmas eve. The idea came from Bill s wife. During the fall of 1947, Diane Hendricks handcrafted a Raggedy Ann doll and asked Bill to deliver the doll to an organization that would give it to a needy child at Christmas. When Bill determined that no organization existed, Diane told him he should start one. He did. As a result, Toys for Tots was born. The 1947 “mini-Toys for Tots” campaign in Los Angeles was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted the concept and, in 1948, expanded it into a nationwide campaign. That year, Marine Corps Reserve units across the nation conducted Toys for Tots campaigns in each community in which a Reserve unit was located. Marines have conducted successful nationw
