Event boosts Toys for Tots
Published 8:50 pm Monday, December 6, 2010
Organizers estimate more than 4,000 toys were collected Saturday at a car show at Mike Duman Auto Sales’ Carrollton location, and toys still are being delivered to the business.
“If I were to hazard a guess, it would be between 4,000 and 5,000 toys collected,” said Mike Duvall, a manager at the business. “There were little ones, big ones, some bikes.”
The new Duman location hosted the car show along with musicians, vendors and a U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots drive. Less than halfway through the event, the business’s main building was overflowing with a pile of toys spreading out from a large Christmas tree in the corner. Toys continued to come in even after the event was over.
“They were just breaking everything down, and this man walked in the showroom and said ‘I have a trunkload of toys I want to drop off,’” Duvall said Monday. “Someone came in this morning and dropped off four bags of toys.”
Event attendees steadily streamed into the building with bags of board games, stuffed animals, building blocks, toy cars, sports equipment and more.
Elizabeth Moose, the chairman of the event, said Saturday the event was going well.
“It’s been wonderful,” she said. “It doesn’t cost us hardly anything to run this. All the money goes for the toys.”
In addition to Saturday’s event, Duman also is accepting Cheer Fund donations at the dealership. He’s also agreed to match donations made at the dealership through Christmas Eve, up to a total of $1,000. In addition, the dealership will make a $100 Cheer Fund donation through for every customer through Christmas Eve who mentions Toys for Tots at the time of purchase.
Donations to the Suffolk News-Herald’s Cheer Fund provide most of the monetary support for Suffolk’s Toys for Tots distribution each year. You can also contribute by sending a check to Cheer Fund, P.O. Box 1220, Suffolk, VA 23439, or by stopping by the Suffolk News-Herald’s offices at 130 S. Saratoga St.