Toys for Tots Volunteer Couple Honored

CREST HAVEN – David and Ruth Burton of the Dramis Detachment Marine Corps League were honored by Cape May County freeholders  Jan. 12 for 10 years heading up the collection of toys for children in need. Through the Toys for Tots campaign, the detachment, in 2015, needed a warehouse to store over 19,000 toys that were collected from throughout the county. 
That warehouse in Burleigh was needed, because the donations made the Burtons’ garage too small, he said. 
Freeholder E. marie Hayes told the board when she took her grandchildren to visit the warehouse, they thought it was Santa’s worskshop. They were saddened when they could not take any of the toys home, she said. 
Burton sought warehouse space from the county for the 2016 collection. He said to have to rent a place would take away from any monetary donations for toys.
Director Gerald Thornton asked Facilities and Services Director Ann Marie McMahon to survey the inventory of county facilities in hopes of finding a place for the toy storage.
Burton noted that over 19,000 toys and $20,000 was raised in four months last year. Toys R Us donated $10,000, he said. All the toys were distributed to families in Cape May County. 
On the distribution days, families were escorted into the warehouse and allowed to select the toys.
“The idea of dependence,” Burton noted, meant that 1,112 families and 2,520 children were distributed, an average 6.8 toys per child, he said. 
Burton said the campaign was in its 16th year. In that span, the detachment never asked help from the county in any way, but the 50 by 50 foot pole barn was just too small, he continued. 
He estimated that a space would be needed for two months, from mid-November to mid-January.
All proceeds are reported to the national Toys for Tots organization, he said. All funds are accounted for in that process.