Toys for Tots starting early to cheer local children

© Provided by Sherman/Dennison Herald Democrat Toys for Tots box at Dollar general in Sherman in 2016. [Herald Democrat]

Although the Easter Bunny just recently packed away his basket of eggs and goodies, an organization most associated with Christmas is stepping up to help deliver some early holiday cheer to children stuck at home during the COVID-19 crisis.

Toys for Tots of Texoma Coordinator Debi Runnels said the desire right now is to give children a little extra cheer while they deal with the many changes in their lives brought on by the COVID-19 social distancing requirements.

"We can't help people with food (or other needs) but we can do what we do best and help with toys," Runnels said. She said to keep the project safe for everyone involved, they are skipping the process of having people drop off toys for the project. Instead a group called Good360 is stepping in to provide the toys for local nonprofits who will distribute them to local children. Runnels said she didn't yet have any information on which local groups might be getting part of the two million toys, books, games, and puzzles that will be distributed.

The toys will come direct from toy vendors and be shipped to the nonprofits.

Information on the Toysfortots.org website said those who wish to get their children involved with the toy giveaway should "contact a local non-profit organization and ask them if they are a member of the Good360 network. If they are a member with Good360, ask if they can apply on your behalf to receive toys from the program. If your local non-profit organization is not a member of the Good360 network, ask the non-profit if they can register with Good360 to become a member and then apply on your behalf to receive toys from the program."

The website said local nonprofits can register to be part of the program with Good360 on their website at: https://good360.org/marketplace/register/.

"There is NO FEE for a non-profit organization to register to become a member of Good360," information on the website said "Non-profit organizations can typically be approved by Good360 in 24 hours. Non 501(c)(3) organizations such as faith based organizations can also register to become a Good360 member, but approval typically takes 2-3 business days."

Good360's stated purpose is to "transform lives by providing hope, dignity, and a sense of renewed possibility to individuals, families, and communities impacted by disasters or other challenging life circumstances who, without us, would struggle to find that hope," according to information on the website.

For more coronavirus related news, visit http://www.HeraldDemocrat.com/coronavirus.