Draper Joins Cambridge Fire Department and Local Businesses in Toys for Tots 2023
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Draper teamed up with the Cambridge Fire Department and local businesses in collecting hundreds of toys and contributions for the annual Toys for Tots toy drive. This year Draper continued an 18-year-long holiday tradition by raising nearly $20,000 and using it to purchase toys for the national charitable program organized by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
The Cambridge Fire Department is a collection point for Toys for Tots, which celebrates its seventy-sixth anniversary in 2023. Draper matched the first $5,000 contributed for a combined amount large enough to buy more than 10 bins of toys.
Scott Lennox, an organizer for Draper’s toy drive, said, “Toys for Tots is a wonderful charity that benefits children in need each holiday season, and we are proud to support them. We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Cambridge Fire Department, Toys for Tots and local businesses for the 18th holiday season.”
All 10 Draper campuses joined the fundraiser, adding their local flair. The campus in Huntsville, Ala., organized a potluck. In Cambridge, Mass., employees held a bake-off, and in St. Petersburg, Fla., a group organized a motorcycle caravan to deliver the toys. Campuses set out toy collection boxes and invited local businesses to donate toys and gift certificates for a raffle.
Cambridge-area organizations contributed to the fundraiser include Advance Tire Company, Al’s Tech Square Café, Amelia's Trattoria, Area Four, Catalyst Restaurant, Mexcito Restaurant, Sebastian’s Café and Catering, Sulmona, and the Research, Development and Technical Employees’ Union.
Cambridge Fire Chief Tom Cahill thanked Draper, and said, “Our annual Toys for Tots campaign is one of the highlights of our philanthropic calendar and our partners at Draper deliver on their generosity year in and year out.”
Draper held a toy brigade, with employees in a line outside the company’s Cambridge campus, to transfer the toys to the Cambridge Fire Department for delivery to Toys for Tots.