Play Comforts Partnership Brings “Christmas in August” to Army & Marine Families across North Carolina

The Toy Industry Foundation travelled to North Carolina this summer to distribute toys to children of military families at two of the most active and combat ready installations in the United States. In partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of America, TIF first visited Fort Bragg, home of the Airborne and Army Special Operations, on August 4th. Colonel Stephen Sicinski was on hand to thank the Foundation as well as our partners and donors for making play possible for the hundreds of kids in attendance who have one or more parent serving our nation. View news coverage from the day.

Friday, August 6th the partners then travelled to Camp Lejeune to distribute toys to the Marine community at a Toyland carnival hosted on the base’s youth center. Colonel Daniel J. Lecce shared the struggles of those who serve both at home and abroad for our freedom.  “As you know, we’re in the midst of two wars, and sometimes I think we all feel like we’re doing it by ourselves. So the Toy Industry Foundation doing this for us today truly does mean a lot.”

Toys distributed at both events were generously donated to TIF’s Toy Bank by EI Kids, Fisher-Price, JAKKS Pacific, Inc., Patch Products, The Price Family Foundation and Wild Planet Entertainment.

Additional events are planned in 2010 to celebrate this national partnership, which allows the toy industry to bring comfort to members of Boys & Girls Clubs located on military bases of all five branches across the country with high deployment rates.