Marines preserve Christmas joy

In Gilchrist County alone, 400 to 500 children were provided toys by Toys for Tots

By Jeff M. Hardison

The magical joy and beautiful wonderment of children receiving toys on Christmas day will hold true this year for needy youngsters in Gilchrist, Levy and Dixie counties thanks to the Toys for Tots program presented by the local detachment of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Retired Master Sgt. Bill Cummings of Gilchrist County stands next to stockings hung in the
fellowship hall as part of the Toys for Tots program. Photo by Jeff M. Hardison

Patient parents stood in a line that stretched for about two city blocks in Trenton on December 15 as they waited outside Trenton United Methodist Church. Parents awaited their turn to travel up and down makeshift aisles of toys, games, balls and the like, which had been assembled inside the church’s Fellowship Hall.
Vince Arcadi was Tri-County Toys for Tots coordinator again this year, as he has been for the past five years. Pat Arcadi, his wife and co-coordinator, said Vince has volunteered in the Toys for Tots program for 15 years now. The couple is not alone in the venture. “We have many great volunteers from the Tri-County Area,” she said.
Those volunteers include retired U.S.M.C. Master Sgt. Bill Cummings and his wife, Maxine, from Gilchrist County. Another couple of volunteers hail from farther away. Jeremy and Crystal Parrott of Ontario, Canada, helped. They are visiting Levy County now. Between 28 and 30 people volunteered this year.
“We’ve got it pretty much down to a science now,” Pat Arcadi said, adding that the group distributed toys at First Baptist Church of Bronson the day before. “The church helped yesterday. They brought people in from the cold and let them wait in the sanctuary. And they served hot cocoa and coffee.”
Two days later, Toys for Tots volunteers were at First Baptist Church of Cross City. There, the volunteers performed the same service as they had in Levy and Gilchrist counties earlier in the week.
Low-income families receive the help. Parents use a shopping cart and are escorted by a volunteer as they go up and down the aisles of 27 racks. They are given a couple of age-appropriate toys, which they select for their children. Each family receives a game. Each child is given an activity, like a coloring book, as well as toys. Families receive balls too. A parent may trade a toy for a larger wooden item, like a picnic bench for tots, a see-saw, a rocking horse or rocking chair. The larger wooden toys are made by inmates at Cross City Correctional Institution.

Lisa Frost of Old Town kneels next to a child’s wooden table, a see-saw, a rocking chair and
some other wooden toys, which were built for the Toys for Tots program by inmates at
Cross City Correctional Institution. Photo by Jeff M. Hardison

Parents also receive one of the 2,000 stockings that volunteers put together. As they exit the building, the parents leave with five or six toys per child.
As a result of Toys for Tots, between 400 and 500 children will find toys under the tree for them in Gilchrist County this year. Another 600 to 800 tots in Levy County are being treated to toys, and between 800 and 900 Dixie County youths are getting toys for Christmas as an outcome of the Toys for Tots program.
All of the money and toys collected in the Tri-County Area go to children in Gilchrist, Levy and Dixie counties.
There were 2,300 children who received toys as part of the program in Gilchrist, Levy and Dixie counties last year. Not only does the Marine Corps Reserve distribute at three churches, but they find children who did not get toys there by visiting with the Guardian Ad Litem, Meridian Mental Health and other agencies.
Volunteers find love goes a long way to help families in need. “We try to do this with our heart,” Pat Arcadi said. “And we do it while being in touch with the community. We like to have a one-on-one fellowship with parents and volunteers, so that the parents select the best gifts for their children. In some places, people are just handed toys with no choice.”
Commandant Mike Harrell, the leader of Tri-County Marine Corps League Detachment 1018, was pleased to be working in Trenton that Wednesday. “I love it,” Harrell said. “This is my fourth year doing it. I just moved here five years ago.”
There is one toy that is not given away in the Toys for Tots program – guns. “This is Toys for Tots,” Harrell said, “not guns for whatever.”
The group also takes precautions to assure children receive toys. They mark through bar codes and scratch out prices. “We already had one person try to bring a toy back to Dollar General in Chiefland,” Pat Arcadi said. “There are very few parents who will do that type of thing. Generally, it’s a great group of people who we help.” Parents who accept the assistance are appreciative.
“It’s a wonderful thing they’re doing for our kids,” said Sharla Smith as she stood in line. “We couldn’t do without them.”
Farther back in line, another parent expressed himself. “I feel good about it,” Kevin Bryant said. “I appreciate what they’re doing.”