St. Bona Baseball, STCAC Lead Toys For Tots Drive

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure baseball team, in coordination with the Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center (STCAC), will assist the Southern Cattaraugus County Toys for Tots Program by collecting new toys for the upcoming holiday season at the men's basketball home game against Arkansas State on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.

Baseball players will be on hand to accept new toys for the Toys for Tots program, and boxes will be set up around the Reilly Center for fans to donate throughout the game. Reggie Dallaire, Southern Cattaraugus County Toys for Tots coordinator, said all new toys would be accepted.

All toys collected by the baseball program at the RC on Dec. 1 – as well as all those donated throughout the Toys for Tots campaign in the area – will stay in the Southern Cattaraugus County region. According to Dallaire, 2,064 toys were distributed to children in Allegany, Hinsdale, Olean and Portville last holiday season, a record for the program.

"It's been growing every year and that's unfortunate," Dallaire said.

For those who cannot make it to the men's basketball game Dec. 1, donation boxes are set up at every financial institution and many places of business in the Olean area. Parents and guardians who cannot provide gifts to their children over the holidays can receive toys from the program by applying at the Tops Friendly Market located at 2401 West State Street in Olean.

About Toys for Tots: The program was created in 1947 by Major Bill Hendricks, USCR and Marine Reservists in the Los Angeles area. It exploded into a national campaign supported by the U.S. Marine Corps in 1948. Toys for Tots took both old and new toys until 1979, when legal concerns and the thought that distributing "hand-me-down" toys would send a poor message to needy children. The Southern Cattaraugus County branch of the program was founded in 1988.

About Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center: STCAC is a branch of the Southern Tier Health Care System, located in Olean's Blue Bird Square. STCAC's mission statement is "to provide a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach to child victims of sexual and physical abuse."