NILES — For the next month, customers may enter businesses and organizations with toys in hand and leave with not only the products and services they wanted, but with the satisfaction of having made a child’s holiday season better.

Businesses across Michiana are beginning to display the red and white boxes of Toys for Tots, a nationwide Marine Toys for Tots Foundation program that distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford them for Christmas.

People can stop by one of dozens of participating businesses and organizations and place a new or gently used toy in the box until approximately Dec. 18. Then, a local Toys for Tots coordinator will pickup the toy-filled boxes and distribute them to area children.

Melanie Kennedy, owner of Grand LV, said she has set up a Toys for Tots box for others to give in years past, but this is her first giving through her event space business at 104 N. Third St. in Niles. She decided to take part because her husband, Donny, is connected to the Toys for Tots program as a Marine.

Now, people can drop off unwrapped, new toys at the Grand LV between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday to Monday or place their item in when attending an event at the Grand LV.

Wireless Zone is participating, too. Skylar Stone — manager of its Niles Charter Township storefront at 2010 S. 11th St. — said he was surprised to have a box delivered less than an hour after sending a request.

Stone said his Wireless Zone has partnered with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation for two decades, but this is the Niles Township storefront’s second year participating.

Stone said participating in Toys for Tots aligns with his store’s mission to provide a personalized connection to the Niles area community. Most days, he helps customers pay bills and purchase Verizon technology. In November and December, he helps the community impact children’s holiday happiness.

People can drop off new toys between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

“It’s nice to be in a position to give back to our community,” he said. “We participated in the backpack event during school days. We give backpacks away. As a company, if we have an opportunity to give back, we try to jump on it.”

District manager Adam Digerolamo agreed with Stone’s reasoning, adding a big-picture perspective.

“It’s to raise awareness of children in need,” he said.

Toys for Tots is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1947 by Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks to address the need Digerolamo highlighted. Hendricks became inspired to start the program by his wife, Diane Hendricks, who could not find an organization to donate a doll to that knew which children were in need, according to Toys for Tots’ website.

The couple saw so much success in their Los Angeles neighborhood that it became a national effort by the Marine Corps Reserve the next year. In 1991, a foundation was created to better handle the yearly toy drive.

The Toys for Tots website notes that Greg Rowles, local Toys for Tots coordinator from New Buffalo, coordinated the distribution of 10,934 toys in 2018, supporting 3,245 children in the Berrien County area.

“Local Toys for Tots campaigns are the heart and soul of the Marine Toys for Tots program managed by dedicated United States Marines and local volunteers,” wrote Toys for Tots leadership in an online statement. “Your local campaign is the best source of Toys for Tots information on how to give and receive support in your community.”