TAZEWELL, Va. -The Tri-Angle Sportsmen’s Club hosts matches from time to time to give local gun enthusiasts the opportunity to compete together. However, their match on Saturday had another purpose, raising toys and funds for the local Toys for Tots group.
“When you start into an initiative like Toys for Tots, you‘ll never know what you’re going to learn about your region. You know, I’m a new coordinator this year, so coming into this year, I never would have dreamed that Tri-Angle Sportsmen’s Club and Tony Graham would be reaching out to let me know, ‘hey, we’re hosting an event for you…’ so, you know, it’s great… it’s humbling and we’re very grateful,” says Charlie Smith, local community organization coordinator for Toys For Tots.
The club first started this fundraiser last year and, after its success, made it an annual event. They say they wanted to use their talents and resources to help the community and found Toys for Tots to be a great way to do that.
“Well, some of them would not have any gift under the tree if it wasn’t for Toys for Tots, so they’re a great organization, they try to take care of as many kids as they can possibly serve, and they do an outstanding job,” says Tony Graham, president of the Tri-Angle Sportsmen’s Club.
While these may look like just toys, Smith says, to the kids who get them, they can mean so much more.
“…There’s a lot of different influences that are out there for children, and not having maybe that reinforcement on Christmas, you hear a lot of horror stories with children dealing with depression and anxiety and that could be a contributing factor to things of that nature. You know, not to mention that it’s just, you know, really sad to think of children waking up Christmas morning and not having anything to open under the tree…” says Smith.
Smith says the need for toys in this area is tremendous every year, but this year may bring an increased need, and with many still recovering from the storm, donations are still coming in slow. However, he is planning on the community to rise to the occasion to help make sure no child goes without a toy this Christmas.
Graham says they plan to continue helping Toys for Tots through these matches in future years. You can go to the Tri-angle Sportsmen’s Club website for more information about the range.
However, you won’t have to wait until next year to donate to fill the need for toys in the area. Just look for the Toys for Tots boxes set up across the area or go to the Princeton Toys for Tots website to learn more about how to donate.
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