The Simpson County Toys for Tots campaign was a success with over 350 families being assisted with Christmas gifts.
The number of families served was slightly less than in past years. The distribution was conducted at the Mendenhall Armory by Toys for Tots local area coordinator Deonka Mazie with help from the City of Mendenhall. Mazie serves as the coordinator for Copiah, Simpson, Lincoln, Lawrence, and Yazoo counties. Mayor Todd Booth, Kathy Brien, Latasha Millis, and David Booth assisted with distribution. Students Peyton and Claire Mitchell also helped to spread some holiday cheer. They both received credit for over five hours of community service.
Mayor Todd Booth said, “The campaign went really well. Mrs. Deonka is great to work with and everything went smooth and was organized. We were a little disappointed about the number of people we were able to help, but it makes us want to work harder for next year.”
Distribution was conducted safely and gifts were delivered to cars. In the past the armory was decorated similar to Santa’s workshop and children were able to explore and choose an age appropriate gift themselves. Due to the ongoing pandemic, toys were prepackaged by age and gender and delivered to vehicles. All gifts received were new and inspected for safety. The campaign serves mostly younger children, but gifts were provided for children up to seventeen.
Booth said, “Covid has put a damper on everything, and it has robbed these children of being able to come into the workshop, get a picture with Santa, and pick their own gifts. We’ve made a decision to open things back up next year so they can have that experience.”
Booth explained that he and the staff that volunteers enjoyed seeing the smiles on the children’s faces as they picked their gifts, and are determined to bring them back.
Toys for Tots is a national program which is sponsored by the US marine Corp. The mission of the program is to collect new, unwrapped toys. The collection usually begins during the month of October and lasts through December. These toys are then distributed as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in communities who conduct a campaign. The objective of Toys for Tots in addition to helping the less fortunate experience the joy of Christmas is to play an active role in the development of the nation’s most valuable resources, and to unite all members of local communities in a common cause. Community members are involved by donating toys to be distributed to children.
