Toys for Tots - McHenry County, Illinois

04/25/2026

Well if Gunny Bear 🐻 says so

It’s Gunny Bear reporting for weekend duty 🫡—and that duty is FUN!

Whether you’re sleeping in, lounging in front of the fireplace, or cuddling your favorite teddy (I approve 🧸), I hope your weekend is packed with smiles, laughter, and a little well-earned R&R.

Take a break, recharge those batteries, and don’t forget: even heroes need downtime! 💪🐻

04/20/2026

Over the weekend Youth Ambassador Charlie Benton invited TFT Foundation Staff, Tatiana, Karen and Valerie, to McHenry County! To start the weekend, the staff was given a tour of The Bridge, a free store that Kids In Need (KIN) runs for foster children and families. Our campaign donates to KIN for National Foster Care Month and we recently bought over 400 backpacks for them. A great start to a long weekend!
Second Bridge - Program of Kids In Need - a 501c3

04/16/2026

Youth Ambassador Mentor Charlie Benton is gearing up for her upcoming events! Join her at Healthy Kids Day at the Sage YMCA from 10-12 PM on Saturday, April 18. Prairie Ridge Students also still have time to sign up for the pickleball tournament on Saturday, April 18 at 12 PM! We are so excited to see the community come out to these events!

04/14/2026

PRAIRIE RIDGE students, families and staff! We are hosting a pickleball tournament this Saturday, April 18 on the tennis courts. To sign up, get your payments to Mrs. Fetzner in room 221 by this Friday, April 17. You can also sign up as a club/sport for the chance to win a donut party! Get practicing Wolves 🐺

04/09/2026

May is coming up and it’s

In 2019, we were just trying to do something good in the middle of something heartbreaking.
We thought maybe we’d collect 20 duffel bags for kids entering foster care.

Instead… this community showed up in a way we never could have imagined.

Thousands of bags.
Hundreds of businesses.
Volunteers everywhere.
And kids who, for the first time, had something of their own.

What started as Stuff the Duffel didn’t end that day.
It became Second Bridge.
It became Kids In Need of McHenry County.
It became support, dignity, and connection for thousands of children every single year.

Now here we are in 2026.
It may look different, but the heart behind it hasn’t changed.

We’re still showing up.
And the need is still here.

This May, during Foster Care Appreciation Month, we will be collecting essential items for kids in care.

Come be part of something that still matters.

Learn more + get involved: https://kinmc.org/stufftheduffel/

02/09/2026

For over seven years, Ollie's Bargain Outlet has been a major national corporate sponsor of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, collecting toys, books, and monetary donations at their stores. Since 2023, when the Crystal Lake Ollie's Bargain Outlet opened in McHenry County, they have been a supporter of the McHenry County Marine Toys for Tots Program.

We are thankful for the sponsorship and grateful to the patrons of the Crystal Lake Ollie's Bargain Outlet who have donated toys and rounded up their purchases to benefit our local McHenry County Campaign. For 2025, we just learned today that the donations given at the cash registers totaled $2,000. Thanks to all who supported the McHenry County Marine Toys for Tots Program.

02/09/2026

Kyuki-Do Martial Arts - Algonquin

For more than 15 years, Master Mark Bjorkquist has hosted a Christmas Breakfast for his patrons. Personally, preparing omelets for all attendees with cookie decoration and craft tables for family members to create culinary treats and build a Christmas ornament. No Christmas event would be complete without an opportunity for the kids to visit with Santa Claus. Master Bjorkquists asks each attendee to bring a new unwrapped gift to donate to McHenry County Marine Toys for Tots (TFT) Program. During this special event, over 400 toys are donated for the McHenry TFT County Campaign.

Master Bjorkquists is not only a martial arts teacher, but a person who instills leadership, respect, confidence and much more to his students. Keep up the good work Master Bjorkquists by providing young people will real life skills. Kyuki-Do Martial Arts, we appreciate you including the McHenry County Marine TFT Program as part of your annual Christmas Breakfast. Your unwavering support is important to our Campaign. Thank you for your support.

From left to Right: Jerry Havens (TFT Volunteer), Wayne Koster (TFT Volunteer), Daniel Bouček (TFT Coordinator Volunteer), and Master Mark Bjorkquist.

02/08/2026

Meijer Algonquin, Il Store #206 - Long Time McHenry Marine Toys for Tots Supporter

The Algonquin Meijer store has supported McHenry Marine Toys for Tots for many years with financial support for older children's toys, games, etc. Nationwide, Marine Toys for Tots Coordinator's, find that most people who donate toys at the Toys for Tots collection boxes buy for kids age three to nine. That means the younger and older kids' toy donations are not enough to cover the needs of a community. Fortunately, for the McHenry Marine Toys for Tots Program, business, organizations, and individual donors have given us financial support over the years and that is how the Algonquin Meijer Store has supported our Christmas Campaigns over the years. For more than 15 years, Kathi Heftrig-Philips has been our champion at Meijer when it comes to helping us at Meijer. She and Meijer employees look forward to our annual December shopping spree. Kathi fondly recalls working with the late Buck "Bucky" VanDerLeest, one of our Marine Toys for Tots volunteers who picked up toys at Meijer, as well as the late and former McHenry County Toys for Tots Coordinator Lee Totman, as far back as 2009. Thank you for your support and thank you for your partnership today and over the years.

Store Director Earnest Perkins, Wayne Koster (TFT Volunteer), Daniel Bouček (TFT Coordinator Volunteer), Kathi Heftrig-Philips and Jerry Havens (Volunteer)


Meijer

01/26/2026

An amazing program that we are honored to assist.

The Read with a Buddy program provides free children’s books paired with stuffed animals at local food pantries around McHenry County.

01/20/2026

We extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to The Home Depot Foundation for their generous grant in support of the 2025 McHenry County Marine Toys for Tots Campaign. This grant allowed us to purchase essential items that help our campaign run smoothly from start to finish.
Each year, we collect no less than 20,000 donated toys from over 175 locations across the county. Those toys are first placed into heavy-duty construction bags supplied by The Home Depot, then sorted and packed into boxes also provided by Home Depot. We are especially grateful to the The Home Depot and The Home Depot forall if the support for the last couple of years. The volunteers who dedicated their time in November 2025 to help with sorting and packing were phenomenal

Through The Home Depot Foundation grant, we are able to purchase everything needed to prepare toys for distribution to families in need, including construction bags, Sharpie markers, tape, and more than 550 boxes, just to name a few items. This support allows McHenry County Marine Toys for Tots to use regular monetary donations to purchase toys, rather than diverting those funds to cover operational supplies that Home Depot so graciously provides.

The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is proud to share that 97 cents of every dollar donated goes directly toward purchasing toys for children in need. Thank you to The Home Depot Foundation and Home Depot for making a meaningful difference in our community and helping us bring joy to thousands of children.

Thank you, Home Depot!

01/19/2026

Local non-profit Read With A Buddy, established by Lynn Unterberg, donated five bags of needed toys today. Normally, we do not collect toys outside of the Christmas Marine Toys for Tots Season, but Read With a Buddy had some items we could put to use immediately.

Charlie Benton, McHenry County Marine Toys for Tots Youth Ambassador Mentor, partnered with Read With a Buddy last month and donated over 80 books for Lynn's reading program.

AMAZING 📚

Given the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation's Literacy Program, it is a natural partnership with Read with a Buddy. We thank you, Lynn. We are happy to support your mission to nurture early literacy, one book, one buddy, one child at a time.

01/01/2026

You hope everyone has a wonderful new year
See you again for 2026 season.