Caroline Carlson | Daily Press Local Marine Toys for Tots Assistant Coordinator Carmen Jamison reviews the many toys in the foundation’s Gladstone warehouse.

ESCANABA — The COVID-19 pandemic has turned many routines and procedures on their heads this year for both individuals and organizations. Like many charities, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots foundation turned to out-of-the-box thinking to overcome challenges to their 2020 toy drive.

“We did have to change a few things this year because of COVID-19,” said local Toys for Tots Coordinator John Jamison. The foundation arranged to distribute the toys through the local food pantries, who distributed them along with their own holiday food box and basket orders. Those in participation included St. Vincent de Paul in both Escanaba and Gladstone, the Salvation Army, and All Saints Church in Gladstone.

The Toys for Tots program has been active in the Upper Peninsula since 1986, serving Delta County and Menominee counties. The Marine Corps League functions as a central hub for volunteers, and the program is entirely volunteer-driven. The foundation accepts new unwrapped toys annually from October 1 through the middle of December. Those purchasing toys to donate can find donation box locations on the Toys for Tots website.

In years past, people could request toys directly through an application on the Toys for Tots website. Recipients would then go to the warehouse in Gladstone to pick up the toys selected on their behalf.

Charities distributing food through their own food pantries would receive toys for their recipients by letting Toys for Tots know what they needed via the information from their own registration forms. “If we can fulfill those specific requests, we fulfill them,” Jamison said, adding they also collected any tags still left on the Angel Tree when it came down and fulfilled those as well.

While requests were made in the same way this year, all distribution was channeled through the food pantries instead of each of the charities distributing toys each to their own lists. The new distribution plan was an effort by Toys for Tots to maintain the safety of recipients and ­volunteers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a whole, Jamison thinks the distribution of toys in the area was about the same as in the past. “I can’t say we had a bad turnout this year. We did have a pretty good turnout with all things considered,” Jamison said, who has volunteered with his wife Carmen, the assistant coordinator, for the past three years.

Jamison credits the giving nature of the community for the level of donations. He said in addition to donating new and unwrapped toys, the foundation received numerous monetary donations. Money donated to the local Toys for Tots is sent to the national foundation, where it is put into the account for the location to which it was donated, enabling the purchase of toys.

In another twist this year, Jamison said he let the toy collection drive run an extra week, “and I’m glad I did because we did get a pretty good collection last week, so that was great,” he said. The national Toys for Tots foundation also assisted the local foundation.

“This year the foundation actually pushed quite a few toys this way, which was great,” said Jamison. He noted while many people know that larger companies, such as Walmart and Menards help Toys for Tots achieve their mission, they aren’t always aware of the smaller businesses that help locally. VanAire, the Rusty Rail Bar & Grill, Eddie’s Tattoo, Edward J. Sackerson Charitable Foundation, and White’s Grocery Store are among local businesses that support Toys for Tots. Volunteers Gerry and Sue Rivard also donated much effort and time to ensure the drive was a success.

Jamison said that monetary donations are especially helpful because they can be done all year, helping to spread out funds in years of financial uncertainty. In many cases the in-store toy boxes didn’t get filled completely due to limitations on businesses hours or temporary closures. He also pointed out that less businesses are collecting than in the past, as unfortunately some have gone out of business.

Monetary donations to Toys for Tots are accepted all year long. Checks made out to Toys for Tots Foundation can be mailed to the foundation’s local address at N 18198 County Road 551, Bark River, Mi, 49807.