Jordan Beck | Daily Press Sarah Franks, a financial representative for Thrivent Financial, left, and Toys for Tots volunteer Carmen Jamison — wife of John Jamison, the Toys for Tots coordinator for the counties of Delta and Menominee — work to organize toys that will be distributed by the local campaign during the 2019 holiday season recently.

ESCANABA — The Toys for Tots campaign for the 2019 holiday season is in full swing in Delta and Menominee counties. John Jamison, the Toys for Tots coordinator, said the ongoing campaign has gotten off to a strong start.

Toys for Tots originated as a local campaign in Los Angeles in 1947 with the goal of distributing toys to needy children. One year later, it was instituted nationally by the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The campaign has been run locally by the Marine Corps League Upper Peninsula Detachment 444 since the early 1980s.

Jamison said the aim of Toys for Tots has not changed over the years.

“The only goal that I have is to reach as many children as possible,” he said.

In 2018, Jamison said the local campaign served about 1,920 children in the area. It is aiming to serve more this holiday season.

The campaign works with the Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul and local churches in pursuit of its goal.

“They know who is in need, so that’s why we work with them,” Jamison said.

Individual applications for toys are also accepted.

Jamison said the local Toys for Tots campaign was given a “jump-start” this year due to the closure of the Shopko store in Escanaba. The campaign was able to buy a large number of toys at a discount of about 85 percent because of this.

“The purchase that we made … when Shopko liquidated everything added a lot of toys to our inventory,” he said.

Although he did not have an exact number on hand, Jamison said the campaign was able to add “a couple thousand” toys to its inventory through the purchase.

Local groups and businesses have supported Toys for Tots in 2019, as well.

“We’ve had some really good donations from a couple of organizations,” Jamison said.

Among the contributions made this year were donations of roughly $1,800 from ABATE of Michigan, $1,600 from Cat-man-do’s and $2,000 worth of toys from Thrivent Financial. $1,500 of the funds for Thrivent’s donation came from applications made by multiple Thrivent Action Teams, while the remaining $500 was provided by Meijer.

One way people in the area can support the local Toys for Tots campaign’s efforts is by donating new, unwrapped toys. According to Jamison, the local campaign is in need of toys for children aged 0-2 and 10-18.

Along with dropping toys off in donation boxes at the Daily Press, Walmart, Menards, local banks and other businesses in the area, Jamison noted people were able to donate toys to the campaign at Escanaba’s Christmas parade.

The local Toys for Tots campaign will accept toys for the 2019 holiday season through Dec. 18. Monetary donations to the campaign are accepted year-round.

Cans for these donations are present at a number of local businesses. Generally, businesses with donation cans have a Toys for Tots poster in their window.

“You can also make larger donations on the website,” Jamison said.

The site is located at toysfortots.org. Donations can be made specifically to the local campaign online.

Additionally, Jamison said the local Toys for Tots campaign is looking for expanded storage space for its inventory.

“If anyone has any ideas about that, that would be great,” he said, adding people can contact him about storage space by calling 906-748-4620.

Jamison voiced his appreciation to those who have supported Toys for Tots in the counties of Delta and Menominee recently.

“I would like to thank everyone for donating so far,” he said.