Chinle Toys for Tots distribution on track

 

W ildfires on the California coast, where donated toys are collected by Marine Corps volunteers and stored for the Toys for Tots' Native American Program, have made donations scarce this year.

But needy families in the Navajo Nation's Chinle Police District don't need to worry about a bleak Christmas.

Officer Michael Lee, who coordinates the program for the district, said Marines in Bellemont, Ariz. - the distribution point for most of Arizona's tribes - have been stockpiling toys for just such an emergency, and have "a couple of semi loads" in reserve. Combined with the toys the California Marines have been able to collect, it should add up to a normal donation year.

"Distribution will go on as usual in Chinle District," he assured.

Some people who heard the nationwide program is in trouble have been calling the district with offers of toys, but what the police really need is cash for their trip to California to collect the toys, and someone to gift-wrap them, Lee said.

In the past, the local program has relied on faithful donations from the Holiday Inn, Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan, and several Central Agency council delegates.

But with money tight for everyone, the police would like to spread the burden more, Lee explained.

The Navajo Nation generally grants permission for the officers to take their patrol vehicles to California, and foots the bill for the gas.   The officers-turned-Santas also use patrol units to deliver the gifts, often a slog through muddy back roads.

Donations are used for meals and hotel rooms for the officers who volunteer to collect the toys.

If you don't have much money but would like to pitch in, the biggest chore Toys for Tots faces is gift-wrapping 2,000 to 3,000 toys.

"Some years, we don't get them gift-wrapped, and that's OK," Lee said, "but the anticipation on a kid's face while they're unwrapping a present is really wonderful."

While the police won't turn away any willing hands, Lee said the ideal situation is to have children and teens handle the wrapping.

"What we're really looking for is a church youth group or after-school club," he said. "Adults work all day and just want to get it over with, but the kids order pizza and make a social occasion out of it. They have fun so they get more done."

If an adult group wants to sponsor pizza, soda, and wrapping paper for the kids, that might be a perfect partnership, he added.

To volunteer or for more information, call the Chinle dispatcher at 928-674-2112 and ask for Lee or his co-coordinator, Harland Cleveland.

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