Toys for Tots was in trouble this year. Hanford workers came to the rescue

Hanford employees came through to provide a merry Christmas for needy children in the Mid-Columbia this year.

“We’re having a hard time meeting the growing needs of the community this year, and actually temporarily suspended operations because we were completely out of toys,” said Marine Glen Carter.

The U.S. Marine Corps Reserves leads a Toys for Tots campaign each year.

Employees at the Hanford nuclear reservation vitrification plant raised almost $13,000 in less than 24 hours when they learned about the toy shortage. The money was in addition to $12,000 they collected in the past month.

The final contribution to the Marines’ Toys for Tots program was $25,000, and plant workers also donated $9,000 to the pipefitters union Local 598 Bikes for Tikes program.

Some 350 of the 2,000 bikes purchased and assembled in the Mid-Columbia Bikes for Tikes program will go to Toys for Tots.

Vit plant contractor Bechtel National also donated a combined $5,000 to Toys for Tots and Bikes for Tikes.

That brought the total donation to $39,000.

“Our project team proves year after year that they are committed to the community where they live and work, giving generously and wholeheartedly of both their time and money,” said Valerie McCain, vit plant project director for Bechtel.