Charity - Toys For Tots Minimates Grab Bags

[pk13]

Hello everyone. I've been reading stories here and there that Toys for Tots, the Christmas gift charity run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, has been a little behind in donations this year. While this charity doesn't feed the hungry or shelter the homeless, I've always felt like it was a wonderful charity that brightens the holiday season for needy children and helps alleviate some stress for parents that are going through difficult times. No matter what your circumstances are, giving a gift to your child feels like a top priority this time of year even if there are more pressing real world needs. Toys for Tots does a lot of good work in helping out with providing gifts for these families.

I have several loose/mint/complete Minimates that just aren't doing me any good sitting in a tub waiting to trade. Since Toys for Tots asks for new and unopened toys, I can't donate them directly. So here is what I'm proposing: if you are interested in making a donation to your local Toys for Tots, I will send you a grab bag of 5 mystery Minimates. I've always felt like this is a very trustworthy community, so I won't ask that you send proof that you donated. This will be completely on the honor system. Please make a donation of a brand new toy that's worth at least $10. If you want to go with more, then that's awesome and please do so. If $10 is the max that you can swing, then that's great as well.

If you're interested, please just send me a message indicating that you would like to participate and I'll get back to you asap. I'm not sure exactly how many I can do, so please wait to hear back from me before donating just in case I'm out of figures to send. And since I'm covering the shipping and it's a super busy time at the post office, I can really only do this for MMMV members with a U.S. mailing address.

That's all there is to it... No sending me money or anything like that. I would rather spread donations out across different cities than to have everything be donated in just one. It's not a bad deal at all. A donation gets you 5 complete Minimates shipped. And all you have to do is go get a $10 toy and donate to your local Toys for Tots program. Here is a link to the donation locations finder for the U.S.

www.toysfortots.org/donate/toys.aspx

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to write to me and I'll answer as soon as I can. And, since the 25th is really close, I would appreciate it if you could make your donations as soon as possible.

Thanks!

[MisterPL]

Great idea.

[ElGallo21]

wonderful idea sir!

[Mattallica]

what a very kind and generous thing to do, but it really isnt any surprise coming from you.

I'm so glad you are part of this wonderful community. YOU ROCK!

[Mnemosis]

Shalom!

[DSTZach]

Hear, hear!

[homestar17]

Dude, you rock! This is exactly why I rave on & on about everyone here!

[MisterMiracle]

That's a great idea but...I'm pretty sure the deadline for Toys For Tots was today. I've asked around at several places within the past day or so and they all said today was the last day that the bins are going to be out. :/

I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to drop off this weekend but it looks like it'll be too late.

[Mnemosis]

Worst case scenario, monetary donations can be made through their website in any dollar amount.

[pk13]

Thanks for the heads up, MisterMiracle. There are a couple of donation drives around me that have Friday as the cutoff so I assumed that was a nationwide thing.

With that in mind, I'll amend the offer. I would suggest checking with your local Toys for Tots donation locations and seeing when they will stop taking donations of toys. If it's too late for that, if you want to make a monetary donation as Mnemosis suggests, that is more than cool as well. And if neither of those options work, I'll keep it open for anyone that will just go out and do some good in any way that they can. If you can make an extra donation to a local food bank, that's awesome. If you can drop an extra dollar or two into the next Salvation Army kettle you see, that works. If you can give an hour or a half hour of your time to a local charity, rock on. Just do a little something extra and help someone else out and I'll consider us square.

There have been 10 people to participate so far and I can work up more grab bags if more people are interested. So if Toys for Tots isn't an option for you, just pick something that you would like to support and I'll get some figures sent your way. And a big thanks to everyone that's expressed interest so far!

[Nessex]

Ha! I was actually just about to post something similar.

If you're looking to clear out some of the older mates at your LCS & local TRU, then i suggest buying them up and giving them to Toys for Tots.

Thanks for being so generous pk13 & encouraging others to get charitable

[Trekker 42]

Another fun charity option that I know about, all the Barnes and Noble locations around me are collecting books for a local organization (Mine is supporting a nearby Children's hospital) so if you want literary charity, head there.

[pk13]

I was able to get a couple of these packed last night and mailed out today. All of the rest are now packed and will be mailed out tomorrow.

I'll keep the offer open for another night. If anyone else is interested, please just let me know tonight and I'll have your figures out tomorrow with all of the rest. Thanks to everyone that participated!

[jcastick]

Good stuff pk!

[whywing]

You are a saint.