Page 4 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - Nov 24, 2021

4 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK NOVEMBER 24, 2021
Volunteers with the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots O‘ahu campaign are eager to distribute their goodies to the less fortunate. They are (from left) Christina Bland and husband 1st Sgt. Jeremy Bland, local coordinator GySgt. Jonathan Ibarra, Sgt. Nathan Stewart and wife Clairece Stewart, and Cpl. Jose Polancolopez.
The tale of Toys
for Tots never
gets old with each holiday season, when thousands of toys and stocking stuffers are collected and given away to many of Hawai‘i’s less-fortunate keiki.
ith the holiday season just around the corner, the U.S. Marines are
The mission is simple: Collect new unwrapped toys and deliver hope and joy to less fortunate chil- dren at Christmas. The operation, though, is a little more complex. It requires a lot of planning, count- ing, sorting and coordinating, and, of course, the help of many volunteers and generous donors.
off to any Hawaii Electric Light Company locations in Hilo and Kona, and at collection boxes at participating businesses through Dec. 17. A list of toy drop-off sites can be found online at hi- lo-hi.toysfortots.org. In 2020, the Hawaii Electric Light Company Toys for Tots program distributed 7,628 toys to 6,524 children.
company dropped off a couple of bicycles. I was extremely im- pressed with how the community got involved. There are a lot of good-hearted people out there that will go and buy larger toys that are a little more expensive. During one of the distribution events, there was a family with this little girl. I randomly got one of those bicycles and gave it to her and she lit up with happiness. I don’t think she was expecting to even know that she was going to receive toys for Christmas, so when she received the bicycle ... it made me happy. I am a father of two and seeing my children happy makes me happy. That was one of the instances I remember that was very impactful to me and why I
continue to do it this year.” Originally from Texas, Ibarra moved to Hawai‘i in May 2019, and is currently working as a para- chute safety officer. Amid the pan- demic, he was tasked with coor- dinating last year’s Toys for Tots O‘ahu program, and successfully distributed 21,661 toys, stocking stuffers and books to 16,301 keiki. “I decided to take it upon my- self to volunteer again this year since I already had a little bit of experience from last year,” says Ibarra, noting he has seven more months in Hawai‘i before his next rotation. “During COVID, it was definitely extremely challenging. All I wanted to do was reach out to as many children that I could, SEE PAGE 5
once again going beyond the call of duty with their annual Toys for Tots program.
This year’s Toys for Tots Hilo campaign kicked off Oct. 1, with help from Employees of Hawaii Electric Light Company and Josie Kiyan serving as local campaign coordinator. Toys can be dropped
“There’s never enough toys to give out,” says GySgt. Jonathan Ibarra, volunteer local coordi- nator of Toys for Tots O‘ahu for the second consecutive year. “We accept toys for all ages. The big- gest gap in toys collected is from our birth to 2 years old age group. Also, the 11 years-plus, a lot of teenagers get forgotten.”
“I remember last year ... a