Toys for Tots spreads Christmas cheer to 250 families
Published 9:57 am Friday, December 26, 2025
1/11
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Zachariah Groce, 26, gives Don Butler a hug after Butler gave him a toy dinosaur Christmas morning at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green. Butler, a Marine veteran, dressed as Santa to the delight of the children. Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
2/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
3/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
4/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
5/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
6/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
7/11
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Marine Corp veteran Don Butler (left) and Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League take a toy for a family that was not on the gift list. Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
8/11
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Zachariah Groce, 26, gave Don Butler a hug after Butler gave him a toy dinosaur Christmas morning at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green. Butler, a Marine veteran, dressed as Santa to the delight of the children. Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
9/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
10/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
11/11
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Bowling Green firefighters, Toys for Tots volunteers from multiple counties, Marine Corps League members and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department handed out toys in the housing authority. “We are making sure that everyone has a good Christmas morning,” said Teresa Zackery, assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky/Marine Corps League. Zackery added that this is the 14th year for the program in the area. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
About Joe Imel
Joe Imel is the Regional Publisher of the Bowling Green Daily News, as well as seven other CMG newspapers in Kentucky and Tn. The Daily News has been publishing for more than 169 years in Southcentral Kentucky. Imel began his journalism career 37 years ago as a reporter for the McLean County News, later the Hardin County Independent and finally arrived at the Daily News as a photojournalist in 1991. He rose through the newsroom ranks as chief photographer, photo editor, assistant managing editor, director of digital operations, general manager of WDNZ-TV, a low-power TV station owned by the paper, and later promoted to general manager for the Gaines family. He continues in that role with CMG. Imel studied photojournalism at Western Kentucky University. He is an award-winning photographer that continues to pick up his cameras when he is not listening to the police scanner and tweeting to more than 80,000 followers. He and his wife, Tracy, reside in Bowling Green. They have a son that works in politics in Washington, D.C.
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