Each year as the Holidays approach, the KW PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & CONSULTING team puts on their charitable hats and contribute in a big way to the Toys for Tots program. Toys for Tots began as a Los Angeles charitable effort in 1947. Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, was inspired by his wife Diane when she tried to donate a homemade Raggedy Ann doll to a needy child but couldn’t find any organization to do so. At her suggestion, he gathered a group of local Marine reservists and collected some 5,000 toys for local children that year from collection bins placed outside Warner Bros. movie theaters. Their efforts were so successful that, in 1948, Toys for Tots was launched as a national campaign

KWPMC has organized several community charitable events over the years. This year’s organizer, Maria Carcas, Accounting Manager in our Doral office spearheaded the Toys for Tots drive. According to Maria, we had our most successful year collecting toys and we started this drive in 2010. “We sent our toy drive participation letter to all of our KWPMC properties in October this year. By starting early we were able to collect more toys than ever before,” according to Maria. “Our Property Manager post notices in the buildings and place a toy collection box in a public place. The residents of each building can then fill the box with unwrapped toys,” Maria said. In addition, with the corporate support of Trycia Arencibia, Managing Director and Roxana Dorigo, Executive Director, KWPMC makes a healthy contribution of toys that get placed under a Christmas tree in the Doral office. By December 13th, all toys from the properties are delivered to the corporate headquarters.

On December 14, three uniformed Marines arrived at the Doral office and loaded their vehicles with our toys. The Marines take all the toys to a central distribution center where they can handout toys to organizations that deliver the toys to families that cannot afford to purchase gifts for their kids. Bringing joy to the less fortunate is the best way to celebrate the Season. This year, KWPMC had 15 properties participate in the toy drive and we collected 823 toys. Special thanks to 900 Biscayne, The Palace and Eloquence on the Bay who all did a great job promoting Toys for Tots in their building. This program is another example of the “giving heart” of our incredible KWPMC team.

Tags: Broward/Ft Lauderdale, Miami/Dade