Publisher Lois Allen is shown with many of the toys donated from the community in 2018.
Would you like to do something special for families in need this Christmas? You can partner with us to provide toys for children in Kent County. The Post is participating in the Toys for Tots program again this holiday season, as both a drop off site for toys and this year we are also giving you the option to donate money instead, through our fundraising page at https://tinyurl.com/Posttoysfortots.
Toys for Tots is a volunteer organization whose goal is to collect new, unwrapped toys for kids 0-16, and distribute them to children who would not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season.
“For more than a decade, we’ve been helping Toys for Tots collect toys for children who might not otherwise get one,” said Post editor Judy Reed. “We are humbled and grateful at the community’s response to helping others in need, and hope everyone will consider giving to this program, which helps less fortunate children have a merrier Christmas.”
The program runs now through December 14. Just bring a new, unwrapped toy to our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs, Monday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m. If you can’t make those times, call us at (616)-696-3655 to make other arrangements.
All donations through Team and Personal pages are managed with the same 97 percent to 3 percent program to support ratio as any other form of dollar donation to the program, with over 97 percent of your donations going to the mission of providing toys, books, and other gifts to less fortunate children.
Posted in NewsComments Off on Toys for Tots: two ways to donate
Would you like to do something special for families in need this Christmas? You can partner with us to provide toys for children in Kent County. The Post is participating in the Toys for Tots program again this holiday season, as a drop off site for toys.
Toys for Tots is a volunteer organization whose goal is to collect new, unwrapped toys for kids 0-16, and distribute them to children who would not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season. Toys for teens are always especially needed.
The program runs now through December 16. Just bring a new, unwrapped toy to our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you can’t make that time, call us to make other arrangements.
Other businesses in Cedar Springs with boxes include Family Farm & Home, 4175 17 Mile Rd; Wireless Zone, 4021 17 Mile Rd; and Choice One Bank, 4170 17 Mile Rd.
Together we can make this Christmas special for many children!
Shown here is Post publisher Lois Allen with all the toys we collected. Post photo by J. Reed.
A big thank you to everyone that dropped off toys at The Post for the Kent County Toys for Tots program this year! It was a big success, and we’d like to offer special thanks to the Food service program at Cedar Springs Public Schools, and the Cedar Springs Women’s Club for their great donations. The toys are going to make a lot of kids happy this Christmas!
Boxes were located in each of the three campus buildings for donations to be dropped off.
This year Creative Technologies Academy once again participated in the Toys for Tots toy drive. Over the past two weeks, students and their families have brought in a total of 109 toys. In addition to that, the CTA staff usually pool funds to purchase gifts for the administrators and chose this year to do a donation to Toys for Tots on behalf of the administrators. The staff raised $225 for more gifts. “…it was such a blessing to shop and donate these additional gifts so that children can have a toy under the tree on Christmas day,” shared elementary principal Autumn Mattson. It’s part of the CTA way to believe that it is better to give than to receive.
Posted in CTA, SchoolsComments Off on Toys for Tots Campaign Huge Success
Would you like to do something special for families in need this Christmas? You can partner with us to provide toys for children in Kent County. The Post is participating in the Toys for Tots program again this holiday season, as a drop off site for toys.
Toys for Tots is a volunteer organization whose goal is to collect new, unwrapped toys for kids 0-16, and distribute them to children who would not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season. Toys for teens are always especially needed.
The program runs now through December 17. Just bring a new, unwrapped toy to our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you can’t make that time, call us to make other arrangements.
Together we can make this Christmas special for many children!
Posted in NewsComments Off on Post collecting Toys for Tots
Would you like to do something special for families in need this Christmas? You can partner with us to provide toys for needy children in Kent County. The Post is participating in the Toys for Tots program again this holiday season, as a drop off site for toys.
Toys for Tots is a volunteer organization whose goal is to collect new, unwrapped toys for kids 0-16, and distribute them to children who would not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season. Toys for teens are always especially needed.
The program runs now through December 17. Just bring a new, unwrapped toy to our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you can’t make that time, call us to make other arrangements.
Together we can make this Christmas special for many children!
Posted in NewsComments Off on Post to collect toys for needy
It was the biggest year ever for the Toys for Tots program here in Kent County, according to Kelly VanderLaan, a volunteer with Toys for Tots. But that high point could be a bittersweet end to the program that has brought so much joy to thousands of underprivileged children here in Kent County.
Next year the headquarters for A Col, 1st BN, 24th Marines is moving to Battle Creek, an hour and a half away, which means there will be no Marines here to help with the Marine-based Toys for Tots program.
So the Kent County Toys for Tots is turning to the community for help.
“It is certainly not unusual for a Toys for Tots program to be run exclusively by a community committee, under the direction and scrutiny of the National Toys for Tots Foundation,” it says in a post on their Facebook page. “Our Committee contains several members who have been doing this program for well over 20 years, and some over 30 years. However, the fact is that we face some huge hurdles to continue this program. The Marine manpower and a permanent home are the biggest hurdles, but there are others. The Marines generate a lot of support that civilians do not. We also struggle with the desperate need for a permanent home. We need a lot of space (10,000 square feet and a loading dock) for a short period of time (8-10 weeks). It has been our biggest challenge every year.”
If you would like to see Toys for Tots continue, share your ideas to help them meet the challenges they are facing. You can send them an email at kentcountytoysfortots@gmail.com or comment on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Kent-County-MI-Toys-for-Tots-179441572083482/.
Posted in Featured, NewsComments Off on Kent County could lose Toys for Tots program
Marjorie Starr, Tayler Thebo and Haven Nguyen show off some of the coin jars from the coin drive.
At CTA, we strive to “make a difference in the things that matter” and lately, with our trait of the month being kindness, we’ve taken it to a whole new level. The masses of CTA have been doing a multitude of things to give back, such as engaging with Freerice.com, Kids Food Basket, Kent Connect, and Toys for Tots. With the students devoting themselves to better the lives of others, they learn how important it is to be grateful, and not only during the holidays.
The largest project of the season was the school-wide Toys for Tots toy drive combined with the “Make Change Count” campaign. The initiative is in its 5th year at CTA. The toy drive collected 62 toys. Each class then competed to raise the most “positive” change – pennies counted as positive and silver and dollars counted as negative. The school as a whole raised more than $900 and all of the funds raised during the coin drive were donated to the Toys for Tots campaign to be used to purchase additional gifts for children throughout southwest Michigan.
The high school students decorated 106 Kids Food Basket bags with adorable designs. With the students devoting themselves to better the lives of others, they learn how important it is to be grateful year-round.
For the past few weeks, numerous Kindergarten classes at Cedar Trails did a “Games for Tots” drive and collected over 100 games, which were dropped off here at the Cedar Springs Post this week. The following classes participated: Mrs. Bellamy, Ms. Birdsong, Mrs. Burns, Mrs. Dault, Mrs. Debri, Mrs. Matthew, Mrs. Schipper, and Mrs. Wolfe. Way to go Cedar Trails Kindergartners!
It’s not too late to drop off your toys! You can still drop them off here at the Post on Friday, December 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We are located at 36 E. Maple Street. Our boxes will be picked up sometime during the day on Monday, December 18. Please bag your toys if possible.
Would you like to do something special for families in need this Christmas? You can partner with us to provide toys for needy children in Kent County. The Post is participating in the Toys for Tots program again this holiday season, as a drop off site for toys.
Toys for Tots is a volunteer organization whose goal is to collect new, unwrapped toys for kids 0-16, and distribute them to children who would not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season. Toys for teens are always especially needed.
The program runs now through December 18. Just bring a new, unwrapped toy to our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you can’t make that time, call us to make other arrangements.
Would you like to do something special for families in need this Christmas? You can partner with us to provide toys for needy children in Kent County. The Post is participating in the Toys for Tots program again this holiday season, as a drop off site for toys. Toys for Tots is a volunteer organization whose goal is to collect new, unwrapped toys for kids 0-16, and distribute them to children who would not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season. Toys for teens are always especially needed.
Cedar Springs Wireless Zone, 4021 17 Mile Rd, and Independent Bank, 4115 17 Mile Rd, are also collecting Toys for Tots.
“We have been participating in the Toys for Tots campaign for the past four years,” said Renee Doren, general manager at Cedar Springs Wireless Zone. “The community support last year was our largest yet as we had a couple of boxes full of toys.”
Doren feels it’s important to give back to the community. “Being in a small town like Cedar Springs, there is such great community support for events like these and giving back and pulling together when needed.”
The program runs now through December 19. Just bring a new, unwrapped toy to any of the businesses mentioned. If you’d like to bring one to our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs, we are open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you can’t make that time, call us to make other arrangements.
Would you like to do something special for families in need this Christmas? You can partner with us to provide toys for needy children in Kent County. The Post is participating in the Toys for Tots program again this holiday season, as a drop off site for toys.
Toys for Tots is a volunteer organization whose goal is to collect new, unwrapped toys for kids 0-16, and distribute them to children who would not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season. Toys for teens are always especially needed.
“This is our 8th year of collecting toys for children who might not otherwise get one,” said Post editor Judy Reed. “We are humbled and grateful at the community’s response to helping others in need, and hope everyone will consider giving to this program, which helps less fortunate children have a merrier Christmas.”
The program runs now through December 18. Just bring a new, unwrapped toy to our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you can’t make that time, call us to make other arrangements.
