Held at the Bryan County Community Center,
Lions, partnering with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots program, have been helping make sure area children receive Christmas presents. This was the 17th year for the program. The program collects and distributes toys for boys and girls from birth to 16 years of age. Lion Brian Bond is the Toys for Tots coordinator for Bryan County. He said Saturday morning that 1,296 children had signed up as of the sign-up date and that he expected those numbers to increase. “Normally we have about 2-300 show up who didn’t sign up, and we don’t turn anybody away,” Bond said. About 700 families are served by the program and the estimated cost of the annual project is $50,000. Bond attended training two years ago in Washington D.C., so the Lions Club is directly tied to Toys for Tots and Bond is a designated coordinator for the program. This allows the Lions to obtain toys director from Toys for Tots, Bond said, whereas previously, Lions had to work through a coordinator in Denison, Texas. The community also helps. “The program relies a lot on the generosity of our community when it comes to providing toys for those children in need,” Bond said, in a recent news release. The kick off for the project began in early November and as a result Toys for Tots boxes were placed in businesses throughout the county.
