Story by Donna Thornton donna@southerntorch.com

The countdown is on to Christmas, and some of Santa’s best helpers must have help to ensure a merry one for DeKalb County families in need during this holiday season.

The deadline to apply for assistance from the Northeast Alabama Marine Corps League’s Toys for Tots program has passed. The demand for assistance is up, program coordinator LaRue Hardinger said, but this year’s monetary donations are down by 40% from last year.

“We just learned from 

DHR (Department of Human Resources) after applications ended – we will have more children than ever before,” she said.

Last year 550 applications were approved; this year 566 have been approved. Each application represents a family, so the total number of children who need toys is even higher.

Marine volunteers are working to bag toys for more than 1,600 children this year. It takes an estimated $75,000-$80,000 in monetary donations, plus donated new toys, to meet that need, she said.

There’s concern about the drop in monetary donations so far this year.

“Even so, we have faith you will come through for us again this year,” Hardinger said in an appeal on Facebook.

To donate securely and directly to the DeKalb County, AL Toys for Tots account, people may go to https://fortpayne-al.toysfortots.org

Donors may mail checks or money orders made out to Toys for Tots to: Marine Toys for Tots, c/o Coordinator LaRue Hardinger, P.O. Box 681516, Fort Payne, AL, 35968.

The Marines have two more public setups to collect toy and monetary donations:

Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22-23, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at Bruce’s Foodland in Fort Payne and at Foodland in Rainsville

Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6-7, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Fort Payne Walmart and Big Lots.