Commuity Highlight: Toys for Tots
Podcast Transcription:
Money Talk is a podcast brought to you by PFCU where we will share tips and tricks and talk to the experts on all things finance related. Join us as we cover everything from credit and loans to cyber security and careers. No matter where you are in life, PFCU is here for you.
Maddy: Hello Money talk listeners and welcome to another episode. I’m your host Maddy and today I’m going to share with you my interview with Ionia County’s Toys for Tots Coordinator, Mamie Thayer. Toys for Tots truly is a wonderful program and Mamie is not only amazing at what she does in her role, which you will soon find out in our interview, but you can tell she is so passionate about the Toys for Tots mission of providing toys to those families and children in need. Alright, well, honestly there’s nothing that I can’t tell you that Mamie doesn’t cover in our interview. She shares so much great information, I just know you’re going to learn something about the Toys for Tots program because I know that I did and yeah, I won’t keep you any longer. Here’s my interview with Mamie.
Mamie: My name is Mamie Thayer and I am the coordinator for Ionia county Marine Corps Toys for Tots. I was a volunteer for seven years, stepped away for about three or four years and then this will be my second year as coordinator. So we serve Ionia, Belding, Saranac, Lake Odessa, Portland areas. I think that’s all of them.
Maddy: Okay, awesome. So you said you started off as a volunteer. Could you share a little bit about your volunteer experience, maybe for people who are interested in volunteering and kind of what those options might be?
Mamie: Yeah, so this year with coming out of the whole pandemic and stuff, we still have to be cautious with our volunteers so I won’t know exactly what I’m allowed to have for volunteers until closer to the event. But when I started I was one of the ones that would go around to the stores and deliver the boxes, go in weekly, pick up the toys, pick up any monetary donations that we would receive inside the store and then I would spend time down at the fairgrounds where we host the event, sorting toys and we sort them based on the age and then child appropriate like the babies, the boys, girls, we sort them. And then, so now with us doing drive thru pick up, we have a lot of NHS kids that volunteer because they needed the community service hours so they come down and they help sort. We pre-bag all the toys now and we will be doing a drive thru again this year.
Maddy: Okay so it sounds like you might even have opportunities for those high school kids that need those volunteer hours or want those volunteer hours. And I know you said it’s a little bit different with everything that’s gone on this year and last year so maybe just keep an eye out for those opportunities?
Mamie: So and I do try to reserve most of my volunteers for the NHS kids because they’ve been helping us for so long and they need the community service hours but right now I’m working trying to figure out other options for other volunteers to come down. So most of the stuff we will keep updated right on our website and then I try to post on our Facebook page so those are the two great resources for finding out if we need more volunteers, if there’s other options we can do. And with it being the drive thru, that’s where it’s hard because we have everything already ready and the kids come down and they do the shopping and pre bagging and then we get it ready for the day of. It’s so hard right now to even say what that will look like.
Maddy: Yeah, just like anything right now.
Mamie: Yes, so we just had our conference last week in Virginia so that looked totally different than what a lot of people are normally aware of and the biggest thing that we were talking about is how we can overcome the Covid pandemic and the problems we’re already starting to see is a shortage of toys in the stores. Yes, so it’s just with the supply and demand, getting the toys is getting hard for the stores to keep them on the shelves. We’ve been grateful that it hasn’t hit our area yet but I know in some of the harder hit areas, they’re seeing a big influx in a shortage in toys.
Maddy: Wow, that’s interesting. You don’t really think about those issues that you don’t really have any control over and how you overcome that.
Mamie: Yeah, I mean, you just you know it’s, I can remember the words that they said but just overcome and adapt and we make whatever we can possible and last year, I mean, we donated to over almost 1200 kids so we overcame last year with the midst of it so we can do it this year. We’ll make it happen this year.
Maddy: Yeah, for sure. So I guess, I guess maybe I’ll take a step back and um we skipped over an overview of what the Toys for Tots program is so just in case anyone maybe doesn’t know what you guys do, what your goals are, what the whole program is all about.
Mamie: So we like to just describe it as, three words: kids, toys and Christmas. We want to provide, make sure all the kids in our area don’t go without a Christmas and that when they wake up on Christmas morning, there’s gifts there from Santa. So there’s really no qualifications to receive toys, you just go right on the website, apply and 99 percent of the time, you’re going to get approved. There might be that one percent where there’s just not enough information such as somebody didn’t finish filling out their form and then we attempted to contact them or they missed the pickup date. That would be the only reason why somebody would not receive their toys.
Maddy: Okay, good to know. So you said they could just go on the website. Now is this a nationwide program so anyone, anywhere could apply?
Mamie: Yup, we have over 810 campaigns, worldwide, across the 50 states including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. So there’s a lot of campaigns so it is supported by the Marine Corps Foundation so the Foundation is actually supported by the Marine Corps so we abide by their requirements and stuff and with over 810 campaigns that’s over 810 coordinators. Last year alone we were able to donate 604 million toys nationwide.
Maddy: Wow.
Mamie: So that’s 272 million children were supported last year during the pandemic.
Maddy: That’s amazing
Mamie: So there was some kids also when the hurricane and the tornadoes went through down south or out west where the forest fires hit, some of the campaigns were able to step up and donate a toy to those kids that may have lost everything. So it’s not just at Christmas, we have been known to step it up a little bit and give to other, give to organizations and help where we can with American Red Cross or whatever.
Maddy: Yeah, that’s amazing. We talked about how people can apply if they’re interested. How about anyone who is interested in dropping off a toy or donating. Can they donate money, can you go online and donate that way? What are the options for donating?
Mamie: Yup, okay so there’s two ways. There’s plenty of boxes that we put out usually by October 15th, all of our boxes and canisters will be put out around town. There’s multiple locations of where those are and then you can also go right directly to our website which is Ionia County Toys for Tots, if you just google, it’ll click up for Ionia County and you can donate monetarily right through there. The money is spent locally so any money that is collected or donated we keep it local within our area so it goes back to the community as well.
Maddy: Oh nice. I feel like I knew what the program was but I learned things that I didn’t know like you guys have such a far and wide reach. And especially knowing that anyone that applies basically will get approved for that program is pretty amazing to me.
Mamie: Everybody has their own reasoning and I mean, we want to help offset that of somebody may not be able to afford Christmas because they got laid off, you know and so we try to make sure everybody gets something.
Maddy: Yeah, and you mentioned, I think you mentioned October 15th collection starts? Is there an end date to that? What’s that window look like?
Mamie: So our forms start October 1st and go until December 1st. The collection will start, we try to start putting boxes out by October 1st but there’s just so many places that we have to take them to so we’ll have them out by October 15th and then we will pick up by December 13th because our distribution is the 18th but we want to have time to be able to bag those toys and get those toys ready to give out to the recipients. So usually you have about two months.
Maddy: And I don’t know if you mentioned this if I, let’s say I was looking for a drop off site, are those listed on the website? Can I just go on the website and find where boxes are located?
Mamie: Yes, I should have that updated by the end of the month, we’re just waiting to confirm the rest of our spots but I know off the top of my head there’s Walmart, there’s a bunch of places downtown Ionia, Portland Federal is one, Michigan One, what was Coldwell banker is now Keller Williams. Portland, there’s a lot so we have to finish confirming it and once the list is confirmed, I will share that on our Facebook page as well as the website.
Maddy: Okay, awesome and for people listening if you’re not in the area that we’re talking about, of course we mentioned that this is a far and wide program across the nation, across the state. You can, sounds like you can just hop on google and search your Toys for Tots Program and your county and it’ll come right up.
Mamie: Yup so going along with the applying so you have to apply within your county. I guess that would be the only other stipulation that you would get denied is if you’re from Kent County and applying for Ionia County.
Maddy: Okay.
Mamie: So you have to be within that county. So they have to prove that verification too when they come to pick up. They’ll have to bring birth certificate or like a school ID card so we know how old the child is and then they have to bring a form of an address so it would be your driver’s license for the parent or a current electrical bill or something that gives us the address that we know you’re in Ionia County.
Maddy: Okay, easy enough. Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Mamie: Not right off the bat, but like I said if there’s anything new that comes up, we can always do another podcast or our website is a good source. I try to keep that pretty well updated. And if there is any questions, people can email us right to our direct account which is the Ionia.MI@toysfortoys.org.
Maddy: Okay.
Mamie: That will give them, I usually try to respond within 72 hours of receiving an email so.
Maddy: Awesome.
Mamie: Peak hours, it might be a little bit longer but.
Maddy: Right! Yeah, understandable. And if there’s anything that pops up that you think would be important, we can always hop back on Zoom, I mean, this was full of great information. Yeah I really appreciate your time
Mamie: Well thank you for your time and I’m sure we’ll be talking soon.
Maddy: Yes, thank you so much.
Mamie: Yup, bye.
Maddy: Bye.
Money Talk is a podcast brought to you by PFCU. PFCU offers many products and services to fit your needs, from our various loan and account options to our team of financial coaches to help you reach your goals. Make sure to take advantage of the many conveniences PFCU offers such as the mobile app, mobile wallets, bill pay and more. Visit our website at pfcu the number four me dot com to learn more. PFCU is an equal housing lender and is federally insured by the NCUA.