STEVE GAGNON of Local S6 collects donations for Toys for Tots at the front gate of Bath Iron Works’ East Brunswick Manufacturing Facility this morning.
Beneath his red-and-white Santa hat, George Edwards’ eyes sparkled just after 5:30 a.m. today as he held out a donation bucket to first-shift workers arriving at Bath Iron Works’ East Brunswick Manufacturing Facility.
Most dropped in a few dollars, and some gave larger bills. Many also carried a monster truck or a game of Sorry.
Smiles borne by members of Local S6 of the Machinists union, the largest union at BIW, widened as the stack of toys grew.
Throughout the rest of today, members of the U. S. Marine Corps from Company A, 1st Battalion 25th Marine Regiment, based in Topsham, will pick up truckloads of toys — and buckets of cash — from BIW’s various facilities in Bath and Brunswick.
In uniform, they’ll stand at each gate as workers arrive, and make their way through the buildings to drop boxes all over the shipyard. They’ll even pose for photos with employees — all part of an annual Bath Iron Works tradition that, last year, netted tons of toys and more than $17,000 in cash.
Toys For Tots
Toys For Tots started in 1947, and in 1948 the program became a nationwide mission of the Marine Corps.
Company A, First Battalion, 25th Marines oversees the Maine Toys for Tots program, encompassing eight counties, according to 1st Sgt. Tym Bunnell.
For years, Local S6, working with other unions and management, has collaborated to support Toys for Tots.
But last year, union trustee Arlene Taylor said, “We wanted to amp it up a little bit and we thought about going inside the yard and having drop boxes at all the facilities.”
By the middle of December, 50 drop boxes throughout the company’s facilities, as well as the gate collections, pulled in more than $17,000 in cash and tons — literally — of toys.
“We filled that truck five or six times,” Taylor said of the large box truck used again this year.
And some of the toys, according to Director of Fabrication Jim Favreau, who heads the East Brunswick Manufacturing Facility and Harding Plant, are pretty fantastic.
“ They aren’t cheap toys. They’re very well thought out and people have spent some time and gotten some awfully nice stuff,” he said. “And it’s completely driven by employees’ generosity.”
Employees also work outside the holiday season for veterans groups, and they organize care packages for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, Favreau said. The Harding Plant also adopts families through Tedford Housing, and incorporates that effort into teambuilding exercises in which groups decide what gifts to purchase.
‘Labor of Love’
But this year, with many of Company A’s Marines deployed overseas, only seven active-duty Marines remain in Topsham, along with about 20 reservists. Of the reservists, about a third live out of state.
So Sgt. Bunnell and his wife, Michelle — “She’s been the power play for us,” he said — and the seven Marines are coordinating the Maine program this year. It makes for a busy month.
“ I’ve been telling people that today we’ll be getting in our dress blues and we’ll get out of them at the end of the month,” Bunnell said.
But the work is a “labor of love” for the Bunnells, he said.
“It’s been a process of pain and pleasure. We see a lot of heartache with the requests that come in, but it’s a pleasure to help out with the requests.”
This year, the Marines have already received requests for more than 8,500 children, Michelle Bunnell said today. That’s up from just more than 6,000 last year.
This year, a friendly competition pitted employees at BIW’s East Brunswick and Harding plants against each other to see who could raise more for Toys for Tots.
“Everybody does a really good job, but at East Brunswick, they really ramp it up,” Taylor said. “ They really take it personally as far as getting toys for the children. It’s amazing what they do.”
On Thursday night, Doug Murphy, George Edwards, Chris Comora and Bob Ater took that cash to Target, where Murphy said today, “We just turned Bob loose” to buy bicycles, monster trucks, snowboards, sleds and games of Sorry and Trouble.
“ I think we did pretty good,” Ater, a floor supervisor at the East Brunswick facility, said of Thursday’s 90-minute excursion, during which Edwards rode bikes through the aisles.
“Target gave us a $150 gift certificate, too, and really helped us out,” Edwards said.
“It’s good for a big group like this to get behind a common cause,” Ater said.
‘Not everybody’s as fortunate as we are’
Just before 7 a. m. today, union officials gathered with Marines outside the Harding Plant to hear results of the morning’s take before organizers headed to the James Building and other BIW facilities to collect more toys and cash.
The Harding Plant, with about 440 employees, donated $ 1,723.17, while the East Brunswick plant’s approximately 225 workers contributed $475.76.
“Dollar-wise you got ‘em, but toy-wise, they got you,” Bunnell told representatives of the Harding team. “I gotta say, it’s probably a draw.”
“So many people can barely afford to put the food on the table and (pay for) heat, and toys are really a luxury item,” Taylor said. “ Who doesn’t want to have a gift under the tree when you’re a kid?”
Favreau said it’s hard to describe the generosity he sees in his colleagues, whether supporting veterans or donating to Toys for Tots.
“This work force — all the people who work out here, management or hourly — are very, very generous,” he said. “We see it often. There will be different gate collections for people who have gone through every life crisis — houses burning, the loss of a family member — things you see on TV where communities rally around an incident.”
“Not everybody’s as fortunate as we are here at BIW,” Jay Allen, assistant plant manager at the Harding Plant, said today. “ We’re aware of it, to a man.”
“We’re from humble beginnings,” Taylor said. “We’re not necessarily rich. A lot of people, when they started out, didn’t have a lot growing up, so we do appreciate when we get a good job. We know where we came from and we know there’s always somebody worse off.”
For more information about the local chapter of Toys for Tots and a list of toy drop-off sites, visit topshamme. toysfortots.org.
bbrogan@timesrecord.com
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