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HAGÅTÑA, GUAM - Okkodo High School and Notre Dame High School have been named winners of the 2023 Toys for Tots High School Challenge, a program in support of the Annual Toys for Tots Campaign spearheaded by Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz. Of the eight (8) participating high schools, Okkodo High and Notre Dame collected and donated the most toys in their respective divisions between October 2nd and December 1, 2023.
The Guam Chamber of Commerce’s Armed Forces Committee offered schools with a population of more than 500 students a $1,000 prize. A $700 prize was offered to schools with less than 500 students. Okkodo High School was the large school winner with a total of 1,242 toys donated. Notre Dame High School was the small school winner with a total of 147 toys donated.
The challenge allowed students to make a difference during the holiday season by contributing new, unwrapped toys for their youth counterparts. The primary goal of the Toys for Tots program is to help bring the joy of Christmas and to send a message of hope to our region’s less fortunate children.
Through the high school challenge, a total of 1,814 toys were collected and went directly to The Salvation Army, Catholic Social Service, Mañe'lu, Guam Memorial Hospital, and Harvest House, who then assisted with the distribution of toys to families in Guam. The 2023 Toys for Tots campaign collected a total of 11,952 toys in Guam and 4,227 toys in Saipan. In 2022 a total of 11,075 toys were collected.
The program would like to send a warm Si Yu’os Ma’ase to all participating high schools for their generosity in supporting Toys for Tots in 2023:
· Academy of Our Lady of Guam
· George Washington High School
· Guahan Academy
· Guam High
· Harvest Christian Academy
· Okkodo High School
· Notre Dame High School
· Tiyan High School
The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is a not-for-profit charity with a 75-year history. Last year the Marine Toys for Tots Program fulfilled the holiday hopes and dreams of 8.8 million less fortunate children in over 800 communities nationwide by distributing 22.4 million toys. Since 1947 over 289 million children have been assisted and 627 million toys distributed. For more information, visit www.toysfortots.org.
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January 25, 2024
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