Junior Jason Kobrin, with the help of his Boy Scout Troop, recently organized a Toys For Tots drive at Wayne Hills, the first time Toys for Tots has collected at the school. He placed containers in a hallway outside the main office for donations and managed to gather around 60 toys.

The Toys for Tots Foundation is a national charity program run by the United States Marine Corps; it was founded by Major Bill Hendricks in 1947 in Los Angeles. According to the program’s website, “The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.” An impressive 97% of the charity’s proceeds go directly to children in need; the remaining 3% goes towards overhead.

Kobrin and his Boy Scout Troop delivered the toys to a local Marine Reserve Unit and from there, says Kobrin, “the toys were put on a train in Pompton Lakes where they will be distributed to kids in need.”

While Toys for Tots is new to Wayne Hills, it has long been a fixture of Wayne during the holiday season; among other places, Schuyler Colfax Middle has been collecting toys for many years.

This is not Kobrin’s first venture into charity work; as co-president of the Random Acts of Kindness Club (RAK), he frequently helps spread amity through the school and community.