ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure baseball team will work again with the Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center (STCAC) this holiday season for the 2012 Toys for Tots Program. During the men’s basketball home game against Siena on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m., the team will collect new toys for the upcoming holiday season.
Players from the baseball team will be present to accept new toys for the program along with boxes set up throughout the Reilly Center so fans may donate throughout the game. All new toys will be accepted, said Reggie Dallaire, STCAC coordinator.
The toys collected during the Dec. 4 game, along with all the other toys collected throughout the Toys for Tots campaign, will stay in the Southern Cattaraugus County region. According to Dallaire, more than 2,000 toys were distributed to Allegany, Hinsdale, Olean and Portville children last holiday season.
For those who will not be able to attend the game on Dec. 4, donation boxes will be set up at every financial institution and many Olean businesses. Parents and guardians who cannot provide gifts for their children during the holiday season may apply for the program by signing up at the Tops Friendly Market located at 2401 West State Street in Olean.
About Toys for Tots: The program was created in 1947 by Major Bill Hendricks, USCR and Marine Reservists in the Los Angeles area. It exploded into a national campaign supported by the U.S. Marine Corps in 1948. Toys for Tots took both old and new toys until 1979, when legal concerns around the thought that distributing “hand-me-down” toys would send a poor message to need children. The Southern Cattaraugus County branch of the program was founded in 1988.
About Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center: STCAC is a branch of the Southern Tier Health Care System, located in Olean’s Blue Bird Square, STCAC’s mission statement is “to provide a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach to child victims of sexual and physical abuse.”
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