The Taylorville Kiwanis Club honored their December “Community Hero of the Month” at their weekly meeting on Tuesday at the Taylorville Moose Lodge.   Scott Campbell, chair of the Christian County “Toys for Tots” drive, was program speaker and also honored at the end of his remarks as the December Kiwanis “Community Hero of the Month”.

Campbell, a 1994 graduate of Taylorville High School, served 20 years in the Marines with multiple stints during the Iraqi wars.  Now retired, Campbell came back home and felt the need to help children in the community.  He’s the Christian County chair for the Marine Corps Reserve “Toys for Tots” organization, which is a 501C3 non-profit organization.   

Campbell told Kiwanis members the “Toys for Tots” effort was started by a husband and wife team in 1947, with the wife making dolls by hand and the husband distributing them.   The Marine Corps Reserve got behind the effort and its its first year distributed over 5-thousand toys.  Since that time, “Toys for Tots” hs raised money to give some 652-million toys to nearly 3-hundred million children.   

Campbell added there are now some 800 “Toys for Tots” campaigns going on in the United States, with the Christian County effort he leads raising funds to give some 56-hundred toys to almost 18-hundred kids the past 5 years.  

Campbell said the over 13-thousand dollars raised this year will be turned into toys for 290 Christian County children this year.  Get more information on the Christian County “Toys for Tots” organization that Campbell heads, on their Facebook page.

The Taylorville Kiwanis Club is part of a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.  Weekly meetings are held Tuesdays at noon at the Taylorville Moose Lodge.  For information on the club, go to taylorvillekiwanis.com.