Fire, police partner for holiday toy drive
Jan 1, 2009

By Meghan Erkkinen
Milton-Edgewood Signal

Firefighters and police officers from Milton and Edgewood joined with residents of Mill Ridge Village retirement community to celebrate the efforts of the community during the Toys 4 Tots campaign Dec. 16.

Milton and Edgewood residents, including many Mill Ridge residents and their families, donated hundreds of toys this holiday season to the Toys 4 Tots program, which supplies the toys to underprivileged children in the area. Fire departments, police departments and businesses all around the area participate in the toy drive, organized by the U.S. Marine Corps. This is Mill Ridge Village’s first year participating.

“I just started thinking that if we pooled our resources…we’d have a much better rate of return,” said Deborah Berglund, program director at the retirement community. “Most of the toys Mill Ridge was able to collect were from residents and their families. We think they did a wonderful job.”

Mill Ridge is one of more than 300 toy collection sites in Pierce County, according to Herman Swanson, coordinator of Toys 4 Tots in the county.

Extra collection sites like Mill Ridge are especially important this year, as the county’s needs are up about 40 percent. Last year, Toys 4 Tots distributed about 18,000 toys to children from infants up to age 18. This year, they hoped to distribute about 40,000.

Toys were distributed to local families Dec. 18 through 20. The Marine Corps’ objective is to provide two or three toys per child.

Mill Ridge Village got involved in the toy drive for the first time this year as a way to develop a partnership with the Milton and Edgewood fire departments to make for a more effective drive. “The more visibility the drive has, the more likely it is that every child will be remembered by Santa at Christmas,” said Edwina Alexander, executive director of Mill Ridge. “Our seniors are our secret weapon – they aren’t shy about asking their relatives and friends to donate to something they really believe is important, and we’ve really had an outstanding response.”