Marines on Holiday Mission to Track Down Toys for Tots : Donations: Collection deadline nears as the corps tries to meet its goal of giving gifts to 38,000 needy children.

The Marines are looking for about 12,000 good toys.

They are well on their way toward completing their mission, with about 26,000 presents collected for the 38,000 needy children in Ventura County.

But the deadline is Dec. 22, and time is growing short.

Since Nov. 29, donations have steadily been coming into an Oxnard warehouse for the annual Marine Corps Toys for Tots drive. Sixty-five organizations, including churches, rescue missions and social service agencies, have called in the Marines for a Christmas assist.

On Monday, the Marines made a big dent in their goal with the shipment of 5,000 pairs of skates and 600 skateboards from Variflex Inc., a sporting goods company in Moorpark.

Staff Sgt. John Hendrix, who is in charge of the local toy drive, said the shipment was particularly welcome because the Marines often have trouble gathering toys for older children.

He said many people donate toys for very small children because of the name of the Marines’ toy drive--Toys for Tots. But the effort includes children as old as 16.

Hendrix said a private company donated 25,000 stuffed animals this year, so stuffed animals are definitely not needed.

Beyond rounding up the needed toys, the Marines and about 15 civilian helpers must spend hours sorting the gifts by age and gender. A shipment as big as the Variflex contribution poses a logistics challenge.

The Marines’ temporary warehouse, a donated building on Holser Road, turned into a danger zone on Monday as an olive-drab U.S. Navy truck backed inside and Hendrix and other recruits from the Port Hueneme Navy base began the sweaty, muscle-tiring process of unloading the shipment.

Hendrix is accustomed to peril in his job training Marine reservists to use machine guns and mortars. But in the warehouse, the boxes were flying like bullets. When the barrage let up for a moment, Hendrix took a brief breather.

But minutes later work began again and he nearly became a casualty of a flying box. The wiry sergeant bent over backward trying to catch it. As he scrambled to stay on his feet, laughter echoed through the warehouse.

Despite the perils of incoming boxes, Hendrix said his volunteer work for the toy drive is a nice change from his tough-guy persona training Marines at Camp Pendleton.

“A lot of times we get to see some of the kids we give them to. They’re all happy to get one toy,” he said. “It’s like you just made their whole world.”

Hendrix said that while few companies actually donate toys, hundreds of businesses assist the Marines in collecting them.

Francine Pieper, area manager for Volt Services Group, a temporary agency, said Volt collected 162,000 toys nationwide last year for the Marine charity. Volt is a national sponsor of Toys for Tots.

Many banks and all of the fire stations in the county are also taking toys for the drive. Certain radio stations and Moorpark Town Center are also involved in the effort.

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FYI

Here is a partial listing of toy drop-off locations:

Fire stations throughout Ventura County; all Volt Temporary Services offices; some banks, including Bank of America and Simi Valley Bank; radio station K-HAY in Ventura; Moorpark Town Center. Checks may be mailed to the Toys for Tots Foundation c/o the Naval Construction Battalion Center, 2832 Pacific Road, Port Hueneme.