Toys For Tots: How To Help In Glenview

GLENVIEW, IL — While you’re checking off holiday gifts for family members, don’t forget the kids who aren’t on anyone’s shopping list and pick up some items for the Toys for Tots campaign in Glenview.

Sponsored by the Marine Corps Reserves since 1991, Toys for Tots is organized locally in Glenview by Carmen Turrubiartes-Reyes.

Last year in Cook County, 114,489 toys were distributed to 87,536 children who might not otherwise have gotten any Christmas gifts. To date, the Toys for Tots program has distributed 677 million toys to 301 million children.

Besides dropping off new, unwrapped toys at several drop-off locations, people who want to support the campaign can also donate online. Here’s what you need to know in Glenview:

Bring your family to the 31st Annual Toy-ful Celebration concert at the Glenview Community Church, 1000 Elm in Glenview on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. Join the Toy Choir, with featured soloist Tricia Melzer-Swaydrak, for a festive evening of holiday music and fun. Doors open at 6:30; Christmas carol sing along starts at 6:45. This concert benefits the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots program. The concert is free, but please bring an unwrapped new toy (or toys) to donate to the Marines to help make a child's Christmas morning a little brighter. If you cannot come to the concert, please consider dropping off new toys at any of the Glenview Fire Department's Toys for Tots boxes.

The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is an IRS-recognized nonprofit public charity created in 1991. The foundation, created in 1991, uses 97 percent of every donation to buy toys for children in need.