Toys for Tots drops telethon this year

BARSTOW • A longtime local holiday tradition will be operating a little differently — but just for this year, say local Toys for Tots organizers.

The annual Christmas charity toy drive will not be having a telethon, according to fundraiser organizer Sgt. Mike Bate of the Marine Corps Logistics Base. Toys will still be collected and distributed to needy children mid-December.

Scrapping the telethon, however, will mean that Toys For Tots will be running shorter on donations that the televised pledge drive and auction have raked in the past several years — especially during one of the most cash-strapped holiday seasons in recent memory.

Mal Wessel, former Toys for Tots president, who along with his wife, Connie, coordinated the toy drive the past 30 years and handed over to newcomer Bate this year, said the telethon has been part of the annual charity event at least as long as he’s been around.

Bate, who said he was placed in charge of the event earlier this month, said there just wasn’t time to put together a telethon this year — but it’ll return next year, he assured.

Wessel also said the reason the telethon was scrapped was because Bate is new and taking over a fairly sizable charity effort.

“He’s got his plate so full of other things — just trying to get the toys is his main responsibility,” Wessel said. But it’s also because of financial issues, Wessel said.

“They’re not starting out with any budget,” he said, noting that leasing equipment for the telethon can rack up costs. But Wessel expressed full confidence in Bate’s ability to succeed despite the setback.

“He’s really a go-getter,” Wessel said. “I have every confidence that he’ll get the toys.

Last December, the six-hour pledge drive, televised from the Elks Lodge, collected toys and donations totaling 6,210 toys, at $10 a toy. The event featured performers like carolers from local churches in between call-in bids for auction items like a car, barbecue grill and the signature nine-foot Christmas tree. Last year the $200-valued tree raised $1,000.

Wessel acknowledged that scrapping the telethon will represent a sizable financial loss, but also pointed out that groups that donated money may have presented checks during the pledge-drive but had been raising money since September.

“It wasn’t just what was done that day,” he said.

Barstow resident Laurden Valverde, Toys For Tots coordinator of distribution, said she’s concerned about how the toy drive will fare this year, and anticipates that they’ll be leaning more heavily on other fundraising events, like the annual off-road race, to help make up the difference.

 “It’s going to be kind of sad that we can’t make that extra money,” she said.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4122 or elee@desertdispatch.com

Where to donate toys

At drop-off locations:
• Wal-Mart.
• Rite Aid Pharmacy.
• Front gate of the Marine Corps Logistics Base (on Tuesdays).
• MCLB building 15.

At upcoming events:
• Dec. 3: Bake sale hosted by the MCLB, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Marine Corps Exchange on base.
• Dec. 5: Holiday 200 race hosted by the Mojave Off-Road Racing Enthusiasts, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Slash X Cafe, 28040 Barstow Road.

Applications to receive toys can be picked up at:
• Desert Manna, 209 North First Avenue.
• Social Security Administration, 720 East Main Street.
• Divine’s Market & Liquor Store, 25181 Main Street.
• Yermo post office, 485 West Yermo Road.