(The following article by Toni Callas was posted on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on December 15.)
NEWARK, N.J. — A local charity that was struggling to get toy donations for Christmas received a small boost yesterday from acting Gov. Richard J. Codey.
In November, the local Marine Corps Reserves’ Toys for Tots program lost its largest sponsor, Cherry Hill-based Commerce Bank.
As a result, collections were cut in half, and the group had to turn away agencies in need.
Yesterday, Codey announced that the NJ Transit terminals in Camden, Atlantic City and Trenton will be drop-off points for the program today until Wednesday.
“If you are planning on making another donation this year, I ask that you open your heart to this worthy cause,” Codey he said in a statement.
The program gives new, unwrapped toys as Christmas gifts to needy children across the nation. While Toys for Tots is doing well nationwide, the Philadelphia region struggled after Commerce Bank ended its relationship because the program had become unmanageable.
Instead, the bank planned to divert funding to other charities.
The action left John Atkinson, who coordinates collection in the region, scrambling to find replacements. Yesterday, he was juggling requests for toys for 1,600 children from the Christian Caring Center in Pemberton Township, 2,500 children in the Camden Housing Authority, and 3,000 children for Cityteam Ministries in Chester.
Although some smaller groups tried to help, their donations could not replace the collections at the bank’s 350 bins.
But when the governor’s office called yesterday to tell Atkinson about the plan for the drop-off at the stations, his furrowed brow relaxed a bit.
“I was shocked,” said Atkinson, who had just come in from dropping off toys. “I had to sit down for a minute to catch my breath. It’s really going to help a lot.”
He said Provident Bank also had called and offered $5,000 that he can use to buy toys.
“This is all going to help a lot. Now I can go back to the ones I could not give much to” and give them more, he said. “And the ones I had to turn away – maybe I can do something for them now.”
Toy Drop-Off Sites
Walter Rand Transportation Center,
100 Broadway, Camden.
Atlantic City rail terminal, One Atlantic City Expressway.
Atlantic City bus terminal, 1995 Atlantic Ave.
Trenton Train Station, South Clinton Avenue at Raoul Wallenberg Avenue.