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Toys for Tots program may halt without home

A volunteer program that serves thousands of Butler County children each Christmas might shut down amid problems finding a home.

Bantam Marine Detachment 743, which runs the county’s Toys for Tots program, says it continues to struggle to find a building from which to operate.

Last year the detachment’s Toys for Tots effort was housed in a vacant space at the Clearview Mall, but leaders of the group say their membership is aging and using temporary facilities is growing increasingly unworkable and frustrating.

“We’ve just kind of reached the point where, if we have to go through this every year we’re just going to hang it up,” said Ben Cypher, the detachment’s commandant. “The fact of the matter is, if we can’t find a building this year, we’re going to have to cancel.”

He said the group has accumulated some money in a fund that’s been set aside to purchase or pay rent on a permanent location, but has spent years coming up empty in its search.

Cypher said purchasing a building outright has proved far beyond the financial capabilities of the group, which operates entirely on charitable contributions.

The group also has tried renting a number of vacant buildings, Cypher said, but those efforts have failed for a variety of reasons.

The group is looking for a building to house it from Sept. 15 through Jan. 15, and needs about 6,000 square feet.

“We need a building every year so we can gather the toys, pack them and distribute them,” said Cypher. “It’s very difficult, because we don’t have a bar or a tavern to support us. We just cannot afford one.”

Currently the detachment stores its equipment in a box trailer and sets up each year at a new temporary home, Cypher said, which is used for processing the toys that volunteers collect from around the county.

Cypher said the Toys for Tots program serves between 2,800 and 3,000 children each year.

According to the group’s website, registration for Christmas is Nov. 1 through Nov. 30 and people should call 724-841-0431 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The program is open to children from the ages of newborn to 12 who are not enrolled in any other Christmas toys program.

To help the group find a building, call Dennis Johnston at 724-355-9067; Stanley Schubert at 724-968-7790; or Ben Cypher at 724-316-1533.

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