JROTC gives back to its community
Cadets Hayden McDonald, Shaye Sullivan and Jeremy Rosecrans volunteered several hours to working the Toys for Tots booth at Walmart. Courtesy photo
KELLOGG — Over the last few weeks, the Kellogg High School Marine Corps JROTC classes have been conducting toy drives, both around the Silver Valley and in person at Walmart and once again the students’ dedication is easy to see.
A final count hasn’t yet been tallied, but as of this past Wednesday, they had brought in more than 1,200 toys (that number has since increased).
Nearly 400 children will be blessed by the cadets’ hard work and for Major Craig Petersen, the senior Marine instructor at KHS, it isn’t just the kids receiving the toys that are benefiting from this annual undertaking.
“I feel it’s important for the KHS students to see community support in action,” Petersen said. “If we don’t take a proactive approach to supporting volunteer activities in your community, a lot of activities would not happen. We also feel that it’s important to give back to your community as much as you can. Community service or volunteerism enables students to acquire life skills and knowledge, as well as provide a service to those who need it most.”
Each year the Toys for Tots Foundation makes sure that there is a pre-allocated number of toys for local families in need, but then the MCJROTC in coordination with Walmart and Stovern Supply in Kellogg, take that effort up several notches.
The local group has also partnered with Santa’s Workshop, who work even harder to ensure that the kids aren’t just getting toys, but also other special amenities for the holidays.
“Working alongside Santa's Workshop, not only do the children get toys, some also receive socks, shirts, stuffed animals and some families receive food vouchers for Christmas dinner,” Petersen said. “It’s a great team effort, and Toys for Tots are a small part of this. The real work is done by the ladies at Santa’s Workshop.”
Petersen and Co. are always thankful for the community and their continued support in all of their ventures, but they wanted to thank their partners for helping make this happen.
“If not for the generous support of Walmart and Stovern Supply, I'm not sure we collect enough toys to support such a large area,” Petersen said.