Court employees, friends donate to Toys for Tots

            CHARLESTON , W.Va. – The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia , its employees, and friends donated toys to the Toys for Tots program today, December 11, during a holiday lunch for Court employees.

            The Court has been collecting toys for several weeks.  The Winfield Scotts 4-H Club in Putnam County also brought its collection of eighty-five toys to the Court to be picked up today, thanks to 4-H leader Toni Takarsh, a law clerk for Justice Robin Jean Davis.

            The toys were picked up by Lance Cpl. Erik Morris, 20, of Summersville; Lance Cpl. Travis Weese, 24, of St. Albans ; Lance Cpl. Ryan Davis, 24, of Dayton, Ohio; and Sgt. Leonard Oleson, 23, of Charleston.  The Marines, all of the Alpha Company, Fourth Combat Engineer Battalion based in Cross Lanes, joined Chief Justice Brent Benjamin, Justice Margaret Workman, Justice Thomas McHugh, and Court employees for lunch. 

            The donation marks the fourth consecutive year the Supreme Court and its employees have participated in the Toys for Tots program.

            The Toys for Tots program began in 1947, when it distributed five thousand toys to children in the Los Angeles area. Since then it has distributed millions of toys to children across the country. The Marines and those who help them want to motivate children to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens, and community leaders.