Hanford workers raise $22,000 for toys and bikes for Tri-Cities children

Santa will come through with presents for hundreds of Tri-Cities area children, thanks to the workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation vitrification plant.

They donated $22,000 in toys and cash to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves’ Toys for Tots and union Local 598’s Bike for Times campaign.

“Every year we see growing need in the community, and every year the vit plant team steps up and helps us meet that need,” said Glen Carter, Glen Carter, Toys for Tots coordinator for the greater Tri-Cities area and a former Marine.

The generosity of vit plant workers will help ensure that no child in the Tri-Cities goes without a toy over the holidays, Carter said.

Employees donated $10,000 in toys and cash to Toys for Tots and $2,000 to Bikes for Tikes. The vitrification plant’s employee association brought the total to $22,000 with $5,000 for Toys for Tots and $5,000 for Bikes for Tikes.

Donations to Bikes for Tikes helped buy and assemble 1,600 bikes for the community, including some for Toys for Tots.

“We have an incredible team that gives generously to the community where they live and work,” said Valerie McCain, vit plant project director for Bechtel National at the Hanford site in Eastern Washington.

Community members can drop off toys at the Marine Recruiters office at 1220 Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick.