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The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is one of the nation\rquote s flagship Christmas charitable endeavors and the U.S. Marine Corps' premier community action program. Over the past 52 years, U.S. Marines have distributed over 257,000,000 toys to127,000,000 needy children throughout the nation.
 
 

Toys for Tots began in 1947 when Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles, California collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The idea came from Bill's wife, Diane. Diane hand crafted a Raggedy Ann doll and asked Bill to deliver the doll to an organization in Los Angeles which would give it to a needy child at Christmas 1947. When Bill determined that no agency existed, Diane told Bill that he should start one. He did. The 1947 campaign was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948 and 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 nationwide campaigns at Christmas each year since 1948. The initial goal that remains the hallmark of the program today is to "bring the joy of Christmas to America's needy children." Bill Hendricks, a Marine Reservist on weekends, was, in civilian life, the publicity director for Warner Brothers Studio. This enabled him to convince a vast array of celebrities to support Toys for Tots. In 1948, Walt Disney designed the Toys for Tots logo which we use today. Disney also designed the first Toys for Tots poster used to promote the nationwide program. Nat "King" Cole, Peggy Lee, and Vic Damone recorded the Toys for Tots song written by Sammy Fain and Paul Webster in 1956. Bob Hope, John Wayne, Doris Day, Lorrie Morgan, Tim Allen and Kenny Rogers are but a few of the long list of celebrities who have given their time and talent to promote Toys for Tots. First Lady Nancy Reagan served as a national spokesperson during President Reagan's presidency. First Lady Barbara Bush served as the national spokesperson in 1992 and in her autobiography named Toys for Tots as one of her favorite charities.

From 1947 through 1979, Marines collected and distributed new and used toys. On Reserve drill weekends during October, November and December, Reserve Marines refurbished the used toys.

From Christmas 1980 through the present, Marines have collected and distributed only new toys. Three factors dictated this change. First, the Secretary of Defense's Total Force Program, introduced in the 1970s, assigned Reserves a greater role in America's defense posture. As a consequence, Reservists had to dedicate every minute of weekend drill time to honing and polishing combat skills. No time was available to refurbish toys. Second, public awareness of the health and safety aspects of toys that developed during the 70s made distribution of used toys legally inadvisable. Third, distributing "hand me down" toys does not send the message Marines want to send to needy children. The goal is to deliver a message of hope which will build self-esteem and in turn motivate needy children to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders. A shiny new toy is the best means of accomplishing this goal.

In the late 1980s, the Marine Corps determined that a private charitable organization was needed as an integral part of the overall national Toys for Tots program. Based on this need, the Secretary of Defense, in August 1991, authorized the Marine Corps to recognize and work with a charity committed to supporting Toys for Tots. Based on this approval, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation became an operational organization in September 1991 and has been the fund raising and support organization for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program since that date.

The Foundation was able to satisfy the five needs identified by the Marine Corps. First, the Foundation could provide toys to supplement the collections of local units that had fewer Marines due to military cutbacks of the 80s. Second, the Foundation could arrange and pay for the creation, publication, manufacture and distribution of promotion and support material to Toys for Tots coordinators - something the declining budgets prevented the Marine Corps from doing any longer. Third, the Foundation could enable individual donors to Toys for Tots to take a charitable deduction on their income tax returns. Fourth, the Foundation could enter into contracts with corporations to conduct promotions which would produce royalties for Toys for Tots. These were two other important matters that the Marine Corps, as a federal a gency, could not do. Fifth, the Foundation could ensure that the Toys for Tots program operated in strict compliance with IRS regulations, state laws and regulations and charitable standards.

In 1995, the Secretary of Defense approved Toys for Tots as an official program of the U.S. Marine Corps and as an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve

In 1996, the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve expanded Toys for Tots to cover all 50 states by authorizing selected Marine Corps League Detachments and selected local civilian organizations (generally former Marines), located in communities far removed from Marine Reserve Centers, to conduct toy collection and distribution campaigns in their communities as part of the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Prog ram.

In 1997, the Marine Corps celebrated the 50th anniversary of Toys for Tots. Importantly, the 1997 Toys for Tots campaign was the most successful in the 50 year history of the program.

In 1998, Toys for Tots began its second half century with the most successful toy collection and distribution campaign in the history of the program to date.  The 1998 campaign surpassed all records set in 1997, with the distribution of 11.2 million toys to 4.8 million needy children.  Toy collection and distribution campaigns were conducted in 314 communities covering all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The 1999 Toys for Tots campaign surpassed all previous records.  Marines and volunteers distributed over 13.8 million toys to nearly 5.9 million needy children.  Campaigns were conducted in 342 communities – the broadest coverage achieved to date.