Spreading Holiday Cheer—One Toy at a Time

Doctors and staff members at Valley Eye Associates are getting into the holiday spirit! For the past 8+ years, Valley Eye Associates has been partnering with the Home Builders Association of the Fox Cities to collect new, unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program. These toys are then donated to local children in need.

The Toys for Tots program began in 1947. Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks’ wife, Diane, asked him to deliver handcrafted dolls she had made to an organization that supports children in need. When Major Hendricks could not find such an organization, Diane advised him to start one. He and the Marines in his reserve unit collected and delivered 5,000 toys in 1947. In 1948, all Marine reserve sites were directed to implement Toys for Tots campaigns.

Toys for Tots Logo

Major Hendricks’ civilian job was Director of Public Relations at Warner Brothers Studios. Many friends and celebrities, including Walt Disney, helped support the new program. In fact, Walt Disney designed the first Toys for Tots poster, which included a miniature three-car train that was later adopted as the Toys for Tots logo. Today, the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program delivers an average of 18 million toys to 7 million children each year. The goal of Toys for Tots is, “through the gift of a new toy, to help bring the joy of Christmas and send a message of hope to America’s less fortunate children.”

Surgery Manager Faith Lambie, has been in charge of the Valley Eye Associates partnership since its beginning: “Valley Eye Associates is a company that likes to pay to forward. Children are very important to us and we want to make sure they have something to look forward to during the holiday season.”

“Valley Eye Associates is a company that likes to pay to forward. Children are very important to us and we want to make sure they have something to look forward to during the holiday season.”

Donations may be dropped off at our West, East, Encircle Health, and Oshkosh offices now through Tuesday, December 11. Thank you in advance for helping us spread holiday cheer to local children in need!