U.S. Marines deliver toys to children in Korea
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (AW/EXW) Travis Simmons - U.S. Naval Forces Korea Public Affairs
GYEONGGI PROVINCE, Republic of Korea – U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Korea delivered a portion of Toys for Tots donations collected during this year’s drive to three orphanages in the cities of Pocheon and Yangju, Republic of Korea during their fourth of nine trips into the Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 17.
"Last year we supported more closely to Seoul. We need to reach further out into the community. Outside of Seoul, people don’t know about Toys for Tots,” said Gunnery Sgt. Min Ellis.
The Marines’ Good Neighbor Program received a list of 35 orphanages in 17 cities from the province’s governmental council. The orphanages selected were those that could best use these donations in their annual program. More than 2,000 children throughout the province are scheduled to receive gifts from Marines.
Kim Kyung-tae and his wife teamed up with the program earlier this year to assist in getting a memorandum of understanding with the province’s government signed. It ensures the program and other services will be jointly worked for years to come.
The 64-year-old tradition allows for new experiences each year for service members, volunteers and children who are able to receive the gifts.
“It's all worth it when you have that moment to see how happy the children are to have received a gift,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Philip Hopkins. “Without words, a child grabs your hand, pulls you to sit down and plays with you or hugs you. That’s the personal satisfaction I get from the program, knowing that I made a small but lasting, positive impression.”
Since Oct. 16, Marines have been standing in dress uniform at various collection points in Seoul and Osan as well as helping sort gifts by age groups. A few have provided translations to English children’s books into Hangul, the written language of Korea.
“We are serving as representatives of not only the Marine Corps, but the United States as a nation. It gives us great pride to know that we are spreading the goodwill of our country to the host nation,” said Sgt. Brien Lee.
Sa Zi-sook, director of the Anyang Children’s Home, explained that orphanages and social welfare centers have a mixed variety of children they serve. Some kids are orphans, some have sick parents or guardians unable to care for them and others have single parents that are incapable of providing constant care.
When possible, the Marines have opened their website to show directors and staff pictures of the different places the toys had come from. This, along with the presentation of new toys donated by unknown people, gives a clearer idea of how Toys for Tots works.
“Normally, commands collect up the toys and hand them over to the reserve community. This year we are able to participate directly because we do not have the same level of reserve presence here. It’s a fantastic experience,” said Col. Jerome Driscoll.
Driscoll said he has been able to support Toys for Tots for more than 27 years, but this is the first time he has had the opportunity to have this level of direct involvement.
“Since signing the memorandum with Gyeonggi Province, we know the toys we collect will go to deserving kids in this province because the people of the province will help us by identifying where toys should go,” he said.
Marines delivered toys to the city of Anyang Dec. 8 to begin this year’s two-week distribution of what has been donated to the Toys for Tots program. They are scheduled to complete their deliveries Dec. 22 with visits to Uijeongbu and Dongducheon.
For more news from U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Korea, visit http://www.marfork.usmc.mil/.