The Day the Marines Landed at the Allen School

Two “good men” from the Sixth Communications Battalion Barracks in Brooklyn came to the Brooklyn campus of the Allen School on December 11, 2007, to pick up a “tank full” of toys donated by staff and students to the Marines’ Toys For Tots program. Sergeant Richard Lahey and Corporal Jesse Guilbe were in full dress blues and were greeted by Carmen Mitchell-Bey, Assistant to the Director of the Brooklyn campus, who organized the project in the same fashion that a Marine general would implement to rally the troops. The mission of the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots Program is to collect toys, during October through December each year, and to distribute them to needy children at Christmas, in communities in which the individual campaigns are conducted. Ms Carmen and the students filled seven giant sacks stuffed with dolls, stuffed animals, trucks, puzzles and a battery of lead-free toys, each selected to put a smile on a child’s face at Christmas.