COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) - It was mission accomplished for the Branch Area Marine Corps League Friday, as they joined with the Salvation Army to distribute thousands of toys to families in the area through the Toys for Tots program.  With a $4,500 gift from Meijer, $2,100 from the Coldwater Eagles Lodge, and donations of new, unwrapped toys in 65 drop-boxes around the county, over 6,000 toys were given out to over 300 needy family at the Eby Klein Youth and Family Center in Coldwater Friday.

This is the 20th year that the Branch Area Marine Corps League has participated in the Toys for Tots program.  While the Marines handled the collection of the toys and did the shopping at Meijer Thursday, the selection of the families to receive the toys was handled by the Salvation Army.  The Toys for Tots program itself began in 1947 in Los Angeles, California.