Toys for Tots has always been a project for members of the faithful, few and proud U.S. Marine Corps.
For this year’s campaign between Lynnwood and Smokey Point, the key word is “few.”
The face of Toys for Tots belongs to only one person, Mary Butler of Everett, said David Adamson, Operations Chief for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
The foundation handed the task of collecting and delivering goods to Butler, who volunteers as a local community organizer, with nary a paycheck. She volunteered for Toys for Tots last year, and through the years when she needed donations for a benefit she organized called Christmas Winter Rhapsody at Mariner High School.
Knowing her skills, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation called her, Butler said, and told her they wanted her, especially her, to run the program this year.
She said, “Yes.”
That is what Mary Butler does when there is a need.
“The rewards are amazing,” she said. “I take this chunk out of my life. The Lord gives it back to you.”
Is it a big job?
She aims to collect more than 16,000 toys by Dec. 15.
Butler, 53, is the public information specialist for Faith Heritage Church in Everett. She was the spokeswoman for the Everett Hawks and worked as a manager for the call center at The Herald. The longtime volunteer received an Outstanding Giving Campaign award from United Way of Snohomish County.
Her first job for the Toys for Tots foundation was finding a warehouse big enough to store and sort thousands of toys. She had some rejections, then approached the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2100 in Everett.
She asked to use their basement.
They immediately said yes, free of charge.
She asked Ryder to lend trucks.
They said, “Happy to help.”
She has helpers, who are carefully screened. Her husband, King, is her No. 1 volunteer. She calls on fellow parishioners at Faith Heritage Church.
“People I trust bring on other people,” she said.
Butler is accountable to the foundation for every dime and toy, she said. This morning, Butler was shopping at Target, a store that opened doors early and offered a discount for the toy program.
If a family is reading this, for instance, in Gold Bar, and they need toys for children, they may call 211 for assistance, or visit a local food bank and get on a list of recipients. Butler is hooked up with state Department of Social and Health Services, Volunteers of America, Naval Station Everett and the Boys and Girls Clubs, which provide information about children in need.
Volunteers will promote the program from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Toys R Us, 18601 Alderwood Mall Blvd. in Lynnwood, at 1325 SE Everett Mall Way in Everett, and Babies R Us, 19500 Alderwood Mall Parkway in Lynnwood.
Saturday, there will be volunteers for Toys for Tots at Famous Dave’s from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1206 Everett Mall Way in Everett.
To donate online, or request toys, go to www.toysfortots.org/. Folks may also call 211 to find out about receiving toys. For more information, call Butler at 425-344-0359.
Friday morning, she gave collection barrels to every Edward Jones location in our area. Everything donated must be new and unwrapped, please. Make sure you give something your child or grandchild would love to receive.
Tara Mizell, a food bank volunteer in Marysville, said clients of the food bank have received Toys for Tots donations in the past. She said groups that serve low-income families usually share, support and encourage one another.
“The goal is to provide families with basic needs and perhaps a touch of the holiday spirit,” Mizell said.
Butler was out shopping for and delivering toys Dec. 24, so no one fell through cracks.
“How could I wake up Christmas morning, when my family has something, and there were kids who didn’t have anything?”
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451; oharran@heraldnet.com .
Toys for Tots
A U.S. Marine Corps. volunteer will promote the Toys for Tots program from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Toys R Us, 18601 Alderwood Mall Blvd. in Lynnwood; at 1325 SE Everett Mall Way in Everett; and at Babies R Us, 19500 Alderwood Mall Parkway in Lynnwood.
Saturday, there will be volunteers for Toys for Tots at Famous Dave’s from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1206 Everett Mall Way in Everett.
There are many ways to donate to, or receive toys from, Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. To donate money or toys to Toys for Tots, or to request toys, go to www.toysfortots.org/.
Toy donors also can watch for barrels at stores. For more information about getting toys, call 211. For more information on donating, call Mary Butler at 425-344-0359.
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