Crime & Safety

Medfield's Holiday Spirit Evident Through Toys for Tots Drive

Medfield community continues to do its part in making the Toys for Tots drive an overwhelming success each year.

Medfield is a strong and supportive community built on the values of volunteerism.

Those values have been evident through and fundraisers in town that have supported causes much greater than any one individual ever could.

One of those causes is the United States Marine Reserve’s Toys for Tots program that comes around every November to collect new toys for children in need during the holiday season. Medfield, being the giving community it is, has done its part over the years to make the fundraiser an overwhelming success.

Find out what's happening in Medfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Last year we raised over 800 toys and collected $1,000 dollars,” said Medfield Police officer Eric Pellegrini, who approached Medfield Chief of Police Robert Meaney Jr. last November about making the a drop-off site for the annual foundation.

“I am glad that Chief Meaney was supportive of the idea and allowed [Frank] Iaffola and I to do this program at the station,” Pellegrini said.

Find out what's happening in Medfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Iaffola, owner of Sea Streets Signs and Marine veteran, had been organizing Toys for Tots in Medfield for “awhile” before Pellegrini got the Medfield Police involved in November 2010.

“We both thought it would be a good idea to have the police station as a drop-off [site] because it's open 24 [hours a day], seven [days a week], 365 [days a year],” Pellegrini said. “When I asked Chief Meaney for permission, he was fully supportive and told me ‘absolutely.’"

Pellegrini, a 2001 Medfield High School graduate, joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 2002, served in Iraq in 2008 and 2009, before becoming a Medfield Police officer.

While in the service, Pellegrini said he was involved in the Toys for Tots program.

“I was in the Marine Corps Reserves for a long time and contributed in the program by going to toy drives, hockey games, standing at Toys R Us in my dress blues, etc.,” Pellegrini said. “I always enjoyed donating my time for this program because it seemed like the right thing to do and it’s for a good cause. So when I spoke to Iaffola about having the station be an official drop-off site, we wanted to make it happen.”

The result of “making it happen” was outstanding, as Medfield residents donated over 800 toys and over $1,010 in the first-year of using the police station as a drop-off site,

Other drop-off sites in town include: the American Legion, , Sea Street Signs and the .

“What the role is here at the Medfield Police station and the other drop sites is to do our part in trying to help the cause,” Pellegrini said. “The toys we raise go right in South Boston, so they go to local kids all around New England.”

Pellegrini said Medfield’s goal for 2011 is to outdo its 2010 success.

“Our goal is to try to beat [the 2010] record this year and so far we are doing pretty good,” Pellegrini said. “From the big teddy bears to the little action figures, every toy helps. Even money donations go into buying toys and every little bit helps.”

Meaney supported Pellegrini’s notion that the program is off to a strong start at the Medfield Police station.

“It’s not even December yet and three boxes are full,” Meaney said Wednesday.

The program began in mid-November and will close on Dec. 12.

“Reason being is that the toys have to be brought into Summer Street in South Boston, organized and distributed before Christmas,” said Pellegrini.

To those in the Medfield community that help make the Toys for Tots program so successful each year, Pellegrini thanks you for your time and generosity.

“I want to thank anyone who donates and helps the U.S. Marine Toys for Tots program,” said Pellegrini. “Even with money being tight these days, people still donate to the cause and that is an awesome thing to see.”

More About Toys for Tots

Pellegrini provided some history on the Toys for Tots program.

“Major Bill Hendricks started the Toys for Tots program in 1947 with the assistance of his Los Angeles Marine Corps reserve unit,” Pellegrini said. “That year, they collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. Because the program was such a success, in 1948, the Marine Corps adopted it and expanded it nationwide as the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. Ever since then, the U.S. Marine Reserves have collected and distributed over 402 million toys for underprivileged kids.”

Pellegrini said celebrities have gotten involved over the years as well.

“John Wayne, Tim Allen, Johnny Carson and Bob Hope to name a few [have endorsed the program],” Pellegrini said. “One interesting fact that not many people would know is that Walt Disney actually designed the logo that is still used today, and he also came up with the very first poster to promote the program.”

For more information on the Toys for Tots program, visit www.toysfortots.org


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.