From the Mint: Toys for Tots receives toys, check from Mint Gaming Hall
Published 6:00 am Thursday, December 19, 2024
U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky volunteer Brian Sparks and U.S. Marine Corps Pvt. Edwin Hernandez carry boxes full of toys donated to Toys for Tots to a trailer from the Mint Bowling Green on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, after Mint representatives presented a $5,409.75 check to Toys for Tots from donation collections at the gaming hall. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Mint Gaming Hall Bowling Green General Manager Jim Mahnesmith talks about the $5,409.75 check he and a group of his employees presented to Janel Doyle, U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Southern Kentucky coordinator, and local U.S. Marines from donation collections at the gaming hall on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Devin O’Neal (left) and Pvt. Iverson Thomas (right), as well as Pvt. Edwin Hernandez, carry boxes full of toys donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky to a trailer from the Mint Bowling Green on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, after Mint representatives presented a $5,409.75 check to Toys for Tots from donation collections at the gaming hall. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Janel Doyle, U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Southern Kentucky coordinator talks about the $5,409.75 check she and a group of local U.S. Marines received from representatives of the Mint Gaming Hall Bowling Green from donation collections on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Boxes full of toys donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky are gathered up at the Mint Bowling Green on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, as Mint representatives present a $5,409.75 check to Toys for Tots from donation collections at the gaming hall. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Janel Doyle, U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Southern Kentucky coordinator, and U.S. Marine Corps Pvt. Edwin Hernandez carry boxes full of toys donated to Toys for Tots to a trailer from the Mint Bowling Green on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, after Mint representatives presented a $5,409.75 check to Toys for Tots from donation collections at the gaming hall. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Mint Gaming Hall Bowling Green General Manager Jim Mahnesmith, along with a group of his employees, presents a $5,409.75 check to Janel Doyle, U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Southern Kentucky coordinator, and local U.S. Marines from donation collections at the gaming hall on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Devin O’Neal (left) and Pvt. Iverson Thomas (right), as well as Pvt. Edwin Hernandez, carry boxes full of toys donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky out to a trailer from the Mint Bowling Green on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, after Mint representatives presented a $5,409.75 check to Toys for Tots from donation collections at the gaming hall. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
The Mint Gaming Hall in Bowling Green was the site of some Christmas cheer on Tuesday as the Mint presented a check donation and over 100 toys to Toys for Tots, marking the first time Bowling Green’s Mint location has given a monetary donation to the program.
“It’s a super special day for us,” said Toys for Tots Coordinator Janel Doyle. “Since they’ve opened in Bowling Green they’ve collected toys, but when they invited us to come for a check presentation, that was just fantastic.”
Representatives from both the Mint and Toys for Tots were in attendance for the check presentation, along with three U.S. Marines.
The check totaled a little over $5,400, money Doyle said will be used to purchase toys for children in age groups that don’t receive many donations.
“We’re always low in ages 0 to 2 as well as 10 to 12 in Warren County,” she said. “We utilize that monetary donation to go and make purchases.
“Monetary donations are very important,” she said. “Toys are as well, but any time we have a shortfall, we need that money to purchase what we need.”
By Doyle’s estimate, somewhere around 50,000 toys have been collected in Warren County since donations started coming in in the fall.
Jim Mahnesmith, vice president and general manager of the Mint in Bowling Green, said Toys for Tots is one of his “favorite things” the business is involved with in town.
“We want to be good neighbors,” he said. “We want to be big partners with the community in a lot of different areas, Toys for Tots is just one of many we’re involved in.”
He said the money donated to Toys for Tots came “literally from loose change left around the building.”
He said vouchers from the Mint’s different machines were dropped into small charity boxes either by customers after their visit, or when picked up off the floor.
Even though each voucher usually only had a few cents on it, it added up to the $5,409.75 total.
He said the donations came from both the Mint location in Bowling Green and from Kentucky Downs in Franklin.
“It’s literally people that are just donating funds,” Mahnesmith said.
About Jack Dobbs
Jack covers city government for the Daily News. Originally from Simpson County, he attended Western Kentucky University and graduated in 2022 with a degree in journalism.
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