Deleon Guerrero told the Variety on Wednesday that they will start sorting out the toy donations to match them with the right child and age bracket then call the parents to pick up the toys so they will be the ones to give them to their children.
“I just hope we will be able to distribute all the toys before Christmas day,” Deleon Guerrero said.
They are very grateful for the positive response from the community despite the hard economic situation, she added.
“This just goes to show the generosity of the people and the spirit of giving because they responded to our appeal for toy donations,” Deleon Guerrero said.
Some parents took their kids shopping for toys to be given away, she added.
“Kids know better what gifts or toys would appeal to kids their ages, and by taking their kids shopping for toys, the parents are teaching the children a very valuable lesson in giving,” Deleon Guerrero said.
On Thursday, the Society of Human Resource Management CNMI Chapter, which is spearheading the Toys for Tots campaign this year for Karidat, turned over boxes of toys to the charitable organization.
SHRM president Polly Masga said the toys were from the donation boxes they set up at different locations including the Pacific Islands Club, TakeCare Insurance and StayWell Insurance.
The Tots for Toys campaign kicked off on Dec. 7 and ended yesterday.
The short time frame however did not deter the community from giving toys for the needy children. Deleon Guerrero said several companies also conducted their own toy drive campaigns and turned over the donations to their office.
“We thank the SHRM for taking the lead in the toy drive this year. We also have several generous individuals who dropped in some toys but they want to remain anonymous. We are grateful to all of you,” she said.
The toys will be distributed to the 71 children on the list of low-income families served by Karidat.
