A month after Christmas, work still needs to be done at the Toys for Tots warehouse in Pittston Township.
On February 1, 10,000 toys need to leave. The space, donated by Robert Mericle, will be occupied by tenants and that has put the Marines in a bind.
"Find somewhere we can keep stuff for at least two years at a time, that`s awesome. We don`t have to move them, less toys get broken, less toys get damaged," said Sergeant Robert Smith.
The extra toys came from businesses that had toys left over after the holiday season. This December the toys will go to children in need in eight counties in our area.
First the Marines must find a new place to keep the toys.
"They see us in the uniform doing Toys for Tots but they don`t know after Toys for Tots is done the headache we are dealing with," said Gunnery Sergeant Dennis Jones.
Over the last four years Toys for Tots moved their operations three times, going from warehouse to warehouse. In those moves hundreds of toys got damaged and now those damaged toys can`t be given out to kids on Christmas morning.
"These toys get damaged from having to move constantly back and forth to warehouse to warehouse. They get damaged from sliding around in the trucks and packaged on top of each other," said Sergeant Smith.
For more information on how to help the Marines' Toys for Tots program find a permanent home in the Wyoming Valley, email Gunnery Sergeant Dennis Jones at dennis.m.jones@usmc.mil.