More than 8,500 Presents on Christmas Morning? Priceless.

WWT employees donate thousands of toys to Toys for Tots

Kids make us smile; it's undeniable. Knowing you are a part of thousands of children smiling on Christmas morning is one of the most humbling feelings in the world.

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and then distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to children in need. Beginning in 2005, WWT has hosted a friendly competition among our U.S. offices to see which group can collect the most toys.

Kim Vallero, a senior project manager with WWT, sets goals based on the number of employees in each location to spark the friendly interoffice contest. This year our Edwardsville Integration Center locations were victorious by donating almost 500 percent more toys than they were challenged to collect. This is the tenth time Edwardsville has walked away with Toys for Tots bragging rights.

The best part, however, was that in total WWT employees' donated 8,651 toys!

"I'm not surprised," Vallero said. "I'm ecstatic, but not surprised. My colleagues at WWT are some of the most generous people I've had the pleasure to work with."

The number of toys WWT collects for Toys for Tots continues to climb each year.

"It's very humbling to know I work with a group of people who embrace the same sense of community as the founders of WWT," Vallero said. "It really is the World Wide way."

For more information on Toys for Tots, including how to become involved, please visit http://www.toysfortots.org.