December 6, 2024

Toys for Tots effort in progress in Edgecombe, Nash counties

Toys for Tots is a program of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. The overall goal of the program is to help bring the joy of Christmas and send a message of hope to the nation’s less fortunate children up to age 16 through the gift of a new toy.

Tonika Lyon, who is the coordinator of the Toys for Tots program in the Twin Counties, said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon that by Christmastime 2023 a total of 2,356 local children received toys.

That, Lyon noted, was a record for the program in both Edgecombe and Nash counties.

Lyon said that the plan this year is to have more than 3,000 children receive toys.

Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson and his team have been working to get the word out about the Toys for Tots program in the Twin Counties via email.

Roberson said that he has been involved with the program prior to first being sworn in as mayor in 2019.

“It's a mission and a cause that I really think is first-class,” Roberson said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

“I am certainly doing everything I can do to encourage participation and the giving of toys to some of the kids that we have in our community,” Roberson said.