Toys for Tots rail car caravan collects gifts to spread holiday joy
The Marine Corps Reserve’s annual Toys for Tots mini rail car caravan Saturday traveled through several communities in central and southern Westmoreland County and into Fayette County, collecting Christmas gifts and donations to make the upcoming holiday a bit brighter for children in need.
“What a special meaning, to share with all of the kids who are not as fortunate,” said Suzann Bossart of Youngwood. Bossart was with family members, including her 16-month-old nephew, Dante Derco. They waited in the cold at the Five Star Trail parking lot near Buncher Industrial Park in Youngwood to spread some holiday joy.
“It’s a blessing,” Bossart said. “In today’s world, we need all the blessings we can get.”
The annual Toys for Tots rail car caravan — 20 mini rail cars decorated in various holiday themes — collected gifts and cash donations in several stops along the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. The rail cars chugged through Mt. Pleasant, Scottdale, Hunker, Bridgeport, Everson, Tarrs, Ruffs Dale, New Stanton, Youngwood and Radebaugh near Greengate Center in Hempfield.
Hundreds of people came out to donate, said Dennis Blank, co-chairman of the local Toys for Tots initiative. Volunteers were filling vehicles and trucks with the donations people had made at various stops.
The turnout “is really better than last year,” which was impacted by the covid pandemic, said Blank, who has been involved in the initiative since it began in the county in 1995.
The campaign last year distributed about 25,000 toys to about 3,000 children, according to the organization’s website.
“We got lots of toys and cash donations,” said Jonathan Caccia, assistant coordinator of the Toys for Toys campaign.
Among those making donations was Carson Foster, 6, and her mother, Charleen, of Smithton, who were waiting for the rail cars at the Five Star Trail parking lot across from Buncher Industrial Park in Youngwood.
“We wanted to drop off some gifts,” and to see the “speeders” — the mini rail cars that railroad crews once used for surveying the tracks.
“She is so interested in railroads, and so is her brother (Coale),” Foster said, noting they have come to see the Toys for Tots express in the past.
Dave and Ashley Cook of Greensburg brought their children, Connor, 5, and Ellie, 3, to the stop near Greengate Center in Hempfield. It was the first time they had come to the Toys for Tots caravan.
“They came out to share the spirit,” Dave Cook said.
John Gonder, organizer of the local effort among the North American Rail Car Operators Association, said he spreads the word among members of the local chapter as well as the national organization, and they responded. One of the rail car operators, Michael Whipple, came from the Syracuse, N.Y. area.
The many toys collected through the Toys for Tots program will be distributed to children of families in need about a week before Christmas, Caccia said. Beginning next week, they will be sorted, with UPC codes blacked out so they can’t be returned to a store, Caccia said.
Families in need of assistance are urged to register at jeannette-pa.toysfortots.org by Nov. 20.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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