Fort Belknap Toys for Tots sees successful first day of delivery

Toys for Tots began for Fort Belknap Thursday with the delivery of hundreds of gifts to communities on the reservation with the most in-need children and families.

Volunteers received the gifts Thursday morning, which will be distributed to eight schools in the area including Hays-Lodge Pole Elementary School, which held its Christmas Program that night, complete with an appearance by Santa, said Toys for Tots volunteer Robert Fox.

Fox said more than 250 gifts were scheduled to be given out that day.

He said said things went smoothly Thursday morning, the program having more than doubled the number of volunteers that it saw last year.

"Things went really great," Fox said. "The guy came right on time and we ended up with 22 volunteers."

Fort Belknap has been participating in Toys for Tots for more than 15 years, and the program covers the entire reservation, he said.

Fox said last year was difficult just because local public health guidelines made things more complicated, and he suspects the low number of volunteers last year was affected by the pandemic.

But with 22 people signing up, he said, this year was much easier.

Fox said it feels great to get these gifts to children in need, and the parents have been extremely appreciative.

"It makes you really, really happy, and the parents are so grateful," he said.

He said a lot of people driving by this year were thanking the volunteers and offering help.

Fox said he wanted to extend his thanks to the Fort Belknap Community Council for their support, as well as Fort Belknap Head Start Program Director Julia Doney for letting them use her building for storage and distribution.

He said U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel helped with the drive, and the reservation road department loaned use of equipment to unload the truck.

He said Doney's organization serves 140 families in the community and does a lot of good.

He also thanked fellow Toys for Tots volunteer Ray Brown for keeping them up-to-date on information from Helena.