GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY - An estimated 5,500 kids will wake up to Christmas presents in northwest Michigan thanks to a Toys for Tots campaign, the group said. Final numbers are not expected for a couple of weeks, but it appears the campaign delivered more than 23,000 toys through more than a dozen human service agencies.
The campaign covers Grand Traverse, Antrim, Benzie, Leelanau and Kalkaska counties. Other Toys for Tots campaigns operate throughout Northern Michigan.
“As expected, we saw a slight increase in toy requests this year, but the community responded with tremendous generosity,” said campaign coordinator Maggie Kent. “Not only did we see our drop-off boxes get overflowing with toy donations, we had a number of significant cash and sponsorship donations.”
Last year the campaign distributed nearly 20,000 toys to around 5,100 children.
The campaign was bolstered by 270 bikes donated through Piper’s Project This Girl Can and Bikes for Tikes. Sizable cash and in-kind donations were given by Meijer, Fox Grand Traverse, Great Wolf Lodge, Serra of Traverse City, Leelanau Sands and Turtle Creek Casinos, the Les and Anne Biederman Foundation, Trout Town and Moose and Stella’s restaurants in Kalkaska.
Kent said the campaign also received an anonymous $10,000 gift.
“None of us see the final results of this campaign,” said Kent. “The impact happens tomorrow morning, and the joy will be shared by the parents. We sit back and know that once again, Christmas will be special for thousands of kids in Northern Michigan.”
Learn more about Toys for Tots at http://www.toysfortots.org/.
