Rotary donates $6,000 worth of toys to Salvation Army

ISHPEMING — To get ready for the upcoming Christmas season, the Ishpeming-Negaunee Rotary Club dropped off about $6,000 worth of toys to the Ishpeming Salvation Army.

For about 30 years, the Rotary has been gathering toy donations to give the less fortunate a good Christmas. This is the first drop-off from the club for the season.

“The Ishpeming-Negaunee Rotary Club really kicks off our event every year. They do this initial toy drive and that’s one of the exciting things — to start to see the toys arrive,” said Doug Winters, Captain of the Salvation Army of Marquette County.

“We really wanted to get the word out early to people, because the need never seems to go down, it always seems to increase,” said Kimme Peterson, the Toy Drop Facilitator with the Ishpeming-Negaunee Rotary. “These are truly the needy people in our community, that might have fallen on bad luck. Not everyone has some of the blessings that maybe the rest of us have.”

Rotarians said this year’s load was a bit light in comparison to past years. The club will be taking toy donations until December 20th.

The Salvation Army will distribute the donations to families who apply to receive toys or through Adopt A Family. To apply, visit your local Salvation Army before December 8th. The toys will be delivered on December 21st, just in time for Christmas morning.

Other service organizations, such as the Negaunee Lion’s Club, will also be donating toys in the coming weeks.