Toys for Tots celebrated its 75th anniversary of ìbringing the joy of Christmas to needy Children Nationwideî on Dec. 10, outside of Jaks Brewery and The Purple Toad in Falcon.Jennifer Johnson, real estate agent with eXp Realty, organized this yearís event, ìToys for Tots ó Stuff the Truck.î Johnson coordinated with businesses and service providers in the community. Those who participated: Falcon Fire Protection District Station 1; Rich Dillmen with NFM lending; Dave Ahrens, Sellstate Alliance Realty; The Color Studio, Eastern Plains Chamber Of Commerce; Kordell Langanke, Joseph Graff and his wife, Alison; Travis Platt, owner of BlueBird Heating and Air, and his wife and son, Kevin; and Stephanie Kelley, owners of Printshop Guy; and Patrick McCollum, the manager of Red’s American Grill.Emily Nelson, the general manager of Jaks Brewery, manned the camera for the photo shoots inside and outside her venue.Russ Miller is the coordinator for Southern Colorado Toys for Tots.†ìAll of the toys and money donated in an area stays in the area,î Miller said. ìFor instance, 97%, 97 cents of every dollar goes to the toys and books for children in need.ìLast year in Colorado Springs, we supplied 35,000 toys to 25,000 children just here in the Colorado Springs Metro area, which includes Black Forest, Peyton, Falcon and Calhan.î
