As many we can. Fill up all the cruisers!
— Officer John Mellin, Orleans Police Dept.
Time for Toys
Across Cape Cod, local police departments' annual rivalry is underway to collect the most toys for Toys for Tots. Last year, officers and local businesses collected and distributed 64,071 toys. What will this year bring?
Click on image to watch video news short!
01 December 2024 – ORLEANS, MA – Cape Cod’s friendly holiday rivalry for a good cause is off and running.
Across Cape Cod, local police vie to collect the most Toys for Tots and fill Santa’s delivery bag with goodies and goodwill. In 2024, officers and local businesses collected and distributed 64,071 toys and reached nearly 40,000 children across the Cape and Islands.
Who is collecting toys?
Officer John Mellin serves as the Orleans Police Department’s point person for the annual Toys for Tots effort. for a few hours outside the busy TJMaxx store in Orleans, he and several other officers set up a pop-up collection site with trucks and flashing lights.
“Every year all the police departments on Cape Cod join forces and collect as many toys as we can,” he said.
Where can you donate toys?
Dozens of drop-off pop-ups—like this one in Orleans—will appear over the next couple of weeks across the Cape. In addition, a slew of local businesses like Crane Appliance in Falmouth, Orleans, and Martha’s Vineyard host a drop off. All the police departments also have a drop-off location.
How many toys are distributed?
Last year for the 2024 holiday, Toys for Tots on the Cape and Islands distributed 64,071 toys, reaching close to 40,000 children. And this year?
“As many we can. Fill up all the cruisers!” said Mellin with a smile. “The need is always great and we’re going to get as many toys as we can.”
How long has Toys for Tots been operating?
The Toys for Tots effort has been running almost 70 years, ever since Diane Hendricks asked her husband, Marine Corp Reserve Major Bill Hendricks, to help deliver some dolls to an organization that could route them to children in need. Lore says that when Bill told Diane he couldn’t find such an organization she responded: start one! During the 1947 holiday season, the Los Angeles Marine reserve unit collected and distributed 5,000 toys.
What kind of toys?
The national Toys for Tots organization says it doesn’t publish a specific list of toys because greater variety improves the distribution matches that can come out of the program. It suggests buying toys that you might buy for a child you know.
For more information:
Cape and Islands Toys for Tots – with more information about both donating and requesting a toy distribution.
