The first time Elizabeth Scott heard about Toys for Tots was nearly 60 years ago. Scott and her husband had just separated, and the newly-single mother went to Toys for Tots so her children would have gifts to open under the Christmas tree.
Since then, Scott has been a Toys for Tots volunteer every year and now serves as the head coordinator for Toys for Tots in Montgomery County, Maryland.
In September, Scott admitted Toys for Tots may be canceled this year because she couldn’t find anyone able to donate warehouse space.
On Tuesday, she stood in the middle of the Gaithersburg warehouse that was donated to the organization after someone heard her plea on WTOP Radio.
“It was the next day. It was the very next day after the … publicity that you’d given to me,” Scott said. Judy Shincarick heard “me on WTOP and called her boyfriend Peter, and said ‘get in touch with this lady because they need the help.’”
Peter Drury, the president and broker of the Drury Company, Inc., contacted his clients from the Baha’i community of Montgomery County, and the next day, Scott had a 13,000-square-foot warehouse to use as a toy distribution center.
“Thank goodness for Baha’i communities of Rockville and Peter Drury,” Scott said with a smile.
The contract was signed on Sept. 28, and the 77-year-old coordinator has been busy ever since.
“When we first begin, we might be working four hours a day, but the closer we get to the holiday itself, we are here sometimes 10 to 12 hours a day, and that’s from Monday to Saturdays. … But at least six days a week, we’re in here, till at least the 20th or the 21st of December,” Scott said.
Scott was hoping to meet their goal of providing 30,000 children with toys in Montgomery County this year. Just two weeks away from Christmas, she said they’ve collected nearly 40,000 toys.
While Scott stopped to talk to WTOP, her “elves” — her sister Leni, daughter Kaniria and Air Force veteran grandson, Quotel — packed boxes and counted toys.
“It’s been more of a family thing together. … You never get tired of paying it forward, because we never know when we’re going to need assistance again. I got my children, grandchildren, sisters … that have been faithfully right here by my side. And I don’t know what I would’ve done without them,” Scott said.
Another important lesson that she shared as she was surrounded by bikes, boxes of headphones, makeup and board games, was, “When you have a child (that knows) that someone cares, it grows up to be a giving adult. But they have to learn that. And where did they learn it? They learn it from us.”
Asked if she knew how many kids have received Christmas gifts thanks to the Toys for Toys work over the last 58 years, Scott said, “Oh, my God, I would say at least a million. I can’t even give you a number, but I know that it’s way up there.”
If you’re wondering how someone at 77 years old can find the energy to do all of this work, Scott credits a higher power.
“When God gives you a mission, you follow it, and He gives you the strength to carry it out,” she said. “Only thing I can do is imagine the smiles on these babies’ faces, and if people will understand that children can only get what adults give to them.”
Scott told WTOP they still need toys and donations for babies aged 12 months and younger.
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