Waynesburg collects toys for children
From left, Chad Sherman, assistant professor at Waynesburg University, and Tyler Wolfe, a senior communication major at the college, unload toys onto a table on campus. The communication department collected more than 1,300 toys for local children this year.
Waynesburg University Communications Department Chairman Richard Krause addresses 100 students to thank them for participating in the department’s annual toy drive for local children. This year, the group collected more than 1,300 toys.
WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg University collected more than 1,300 toys for local children Thursday during the annual, competitive Toys for Tots drive.
The drive is a competition between the broadcast and print majors of the university’s communication department, with students and faculty each collecting toys on behalf of their majors. The 1,332 toys they collected this year is a new record for them.
“That’s our highest ever,” said Chad Sherman, an assistant professor of communication who organized the drive. “It keeps growing every year.”
Sherman said they’ve been doing the drive for the past five years. Last year, the department as a whole collected just under 700 toys, and their goal for this year was to get 700, which they nearly doubled.
“We started the drive Monday and push throughout the week to get that competition going,” he said. “They just don’t want to lose to their classmates.”
This year, the print majors came out on top.
The toys will go to the Tri-County Leathernecks, who run the Toys for Tots distribution event in Greene County every Christmas. According to Buzz Walter, commandant of the Leathernecks, Waynesburg University is one of the top donors for Toys for Tots in Greene County.
The university’s drive ended with the department’s annual Christmas party from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday.
“It’s a way for us to all get together before the end of the semester,” Sherman said.
During their party, Richard Krause, chair of the communication department, addressed the 100 students in the department who participated in the drive.
“I can’t thank you enough,” he said. “You have no idea what this means to those families.”
Kimberly Baston, a senior at Waynesburg University who participated in the drive, said the amount of toys collected was “amazing,” especially considering that college students typically aren’t “financially stable.”
“As a university, we always try to be service-oriented when it comes to the community,” she said.