OMAHA, Nebraska (WOWT) – Omaha Insurance Services said it has been collecting donations for Toys for Tots for numerous years.
“We go down to their facility and pick up the empty boxes,” explained senior producer Jeff Smedlund. “Then when they get full, we contact them and they pick them up, normally.”
However, he stated that this year, toys placed in drop boxes have been languishing in his office for several weeks, waiting to be picked up.
“There was an explanation that they would be picking up the toys, but never a specific date or time,” he told me.
“Essentially, what we ran into was just not being able to, I guess at this point, pick up all the boxes,” explained Gunnery Sgt. Raymond Garay, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation’s Omaha campaign organizer.
Garay stated that the initiative served more than 200,000 people this year, up from approximately 150,000 the previous year. So he enlarged the area from which they collect toys to include 60 more villages, including Kearney.
However, his five-person team had some growing pains.
“It’s very difficult for us to be able to provide the logistical support in order to pick up all these drop site locations,” Garay told CNN. “Together, we’ve traveled over 22,000 miles, picking up at various locations throughout the state. And that doesn’t include the assistance of Two Men and a Truck.”
He stated that they have over 600 drop site boxes across the state and have collected more than 400 of them thus far.
The goal is to collect all toys by the end of next week. However, they hope that local organizations will be aware that they can also drop off toy collections at their Warehouse on MCC’s North Campus, located at 5808 N. 30th St.
Smedlund, for his part, stated that he would like to see some guidance before participating again next year.
“It would be nice to know date and times so we’ll be ready for them,” according to him.
Garay said the collection delay does not necessarily mean that toys will take longer to reach children. He stated that he was able to buy them toys with monetary donations from the community.
He plans to expand the program to a greater area next year, but it would be easier if more individuals volunteered to assist them avoid situations like these.