Marines try to take sting out of fire
Toys for Tots gives toys to 13 children displaced by CC fire
By Chris Baldus
The little guy in the red coat was groggy. He’d slept in the arms of a family friend through the meeting with retired U.S. Marine Dale Stern at the Floyd County Courthouse and the trip to the “undisclosed location” where the toys were.
“Dump them right over if you want,” retired Marine Jim Marlowe said as the full Toys for Tots collection boxes were moved into the light.
The little guy whose home was destroyed in the fire that gutted the apartment building at 2104 Clarkview Drive on Jan. 11 awoke standing in front of a pile of toys from which to choose.
Marine Corps League Detachment 859, working with the Toys for Tots Foundation, provided toys and some other needs for all 13 of the children in the eight families displaced by the fire. The last of the children searched through the toys on Tuesday.
Stern said the Marine Corps League and Toys for Tots were told about the situation by Floyd County Emergency Manager Lezlie McCrabb, and they were thankful to step up to help.
“Like my grandmother said, ‘When you do something nice you get warm fuzzies,’” Stern said. The league was hoping to alleviate “some of the sting” from the fire for the children. Eight families were displaced.
Stern also applauded the work done by McCrabb in getting help for the 29 people displaced by the fire that destroyed the 12-unit apartment building.
“Without her, we wouldn’t have been involved,” he said.
The Red Cross has also provided emergency help and has worked with the families to determine other ways it could assist.
Soon after the fire McCrabb announced that downtown retailer Up To Date on Main Street was a central location for donations of clothing for the displaced families. The store is no longer collecting donations as the needs were met, according to Joey Patten speaking for the store.
The Marines and Toys for Tots also provided personal hygiene items for young adults that were lost in the fire, Stern said.
Toys given to the children included basketballs, footballs, dolls, trucks, skateboards, an origami kit, art sets and more. The distribution began Friday and was completed Tuesday, Stern said.
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