TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- Toys for Tots organizers all across the country are struggling to meet this year’s increase in toy demand.
Tuesday morning, 7&4 News spoke to Toys for Tots President and CEO Lt. Gen Henry P. Osman. “Unemployment is near 9% nationwide, and the rate is higher in many communities Toys for Tots serves,” said Osman. “It’s the fourth holiday season of such economic hard times; many families aren’t sure they can deliver the magic of the holidays to their children. One in three children lives in a family where there is no full-time year round employment.”
Osman is pleading for more toy donations as the holiday approaches.
Toys for Tots spokesmen Mike Kent said, locally, toy donations are down 20% from last year and right now they're 6,000 toys short of meeting the basic need. Kent says, "We've collected about 15,000 and at the very base, the need is a good 21,000. So at this point we're preparing to tell agencies that we might not be able to meet all the needs that they have."
You can watch a complete interview with Lt. Gen. Osman tonight on 7&4 News at 6.
