December 12, 2016
OTTAWA—U.S. Embassy Ottawa’s United States Marine Corps detachment and U.S. Navy personnel will brighten the holiday season for children at Ottawa’s Ronald McDonald House by bringing them gifts donated through its annual Toys for Tots campaign. Excitement will be the order of the day on December 15 when the Marines and Navy personnel, accompanied by Santa Claus, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce A. Heyman, and his wife, Mrs. Vicki Heyman, will visit to deliver the holiday gifts.
WHAT: Toys for Tots event at Ronald McDonald House
WHEN: December 15, 2016
TIME: 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: 407 Smyth Rd.
The U.S. Embassy United States Marine Corps detachment has provided toys to children at the Ronald McDonald House through the Toys for Tots campaign for the past 10 years, and last year collected and delivered more than 400 toys.
Colonel William L. Hendricks (USMC) started Toys for Tots in 1947 in Los Angeles, California. Toys for Tots welcomes donations of new, unwrapped toys during October, November, and December, and delivers them to children as a message of hope and caring at Christmas. The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation was created in September, 1991 as a permanent non-profit foundation, and in 1995 the U.S. Secretary of Defense approved Toys for Tots as an official activity of the U.S. Marine Corps and an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve.
This local Toys for Tots campaign is driven entirely by the Marines and Navy personnel at the U.S. Embassy who collect the toys they bring to Ronald McDonald House. It is truly a gift that keeps on giving as toys are distributed to children residing at the house not only in December, but throughout the year.
Media are invited to come and share in the excitement.
