Industrial Analysis

The Creation

The United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots foundation is a great organization collecting and delivering toys to underprivileged children across the United States. Major Bill Hendricks, founded Toys for Tots in Los Angeles, CA raising 5,000 toys for the needy children in the Los Angeles communities. The campaign is coordinated by the local Marine Corps reserve units. During the Christmas season young men and women devote numerous hours of their personal time to ensure the success of the local Toys for Tots campaign.

Falling Short

The challenges facing Marines and Toys for Tots throughout the campaigns are having to support the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terrorism. The armed forces are relying heavily on the reserve forces to take part in the war. The continued mobilization of 35% of the Marine Forces Reserve are not only participating in the war but are also involved in helping with several worldwide disasters to include the hurricanes that took place in the United States.

Another big challenge effecting Toys for Tots is manpower. With multiple deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism many of the men and women are making decisions to exit the military after their first contract. With the rise of first term personnel opting out of re-enlistment, the need for recruitment to replenish the numbers has been very demanding.

The Marine who is in charge of coordinating the Toys for Tots campaign is also challenged by having to complete all of the daily tasks outside of being the Toys for Tots coordinator. The mission of the Marine Corps must always succeed. With this said it takes a very mature Marine who can juggle both the day to day tasks for the Marine Corps and running the Toys for Tots campaign to raise thousands of toys in the local area for which that Marine is stationed.

This biggest challenge we face as Toys for Tots coordinators in my eyes would be raising toys. In 2005 the Toys for Tots foundation distributed 18.5 million toys to 7.5 million underprivileged children. This might sound great however, there were about 12 million needy children across America. With the population of children increasing and the poverty level on the rise, the number of toys we need to collect to ensure every child receives the Christmas that they deserve will also increase. When you add all of the challenges we face as Toys for Tots coordinators it can be a very strenuous but extremely awarding at the same time.

It is a Team Effort

The Toys for Tots campaign is a prime example of a team effort. The team is comprised of more than just the Marines. This team is composed of numerous organizations that volunteer their time to do their part. Marines alone cannot accomplish the mission without the help of the good people of America. The generous contributions from all of the people and organizations across America help to ensure the success of Toys for Tots.