Oct. 30, 2008
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board will hold the eighth-annual Michael Isenhour Toy Drive beginning at the Miami – Georgia Tech football game Nov. 20. New, unwrapped toys will be collected from fans as they enter the football stadium, or they may be dropped off at the Georgia Tech Athletic Association during business hours.
“This project has become something that the Georgia Tech student-athletes take a lot of pride in and strive to make more successful each year,” said Leah Thomas, Director of Total Person Support Services and advisor to the Georgia Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board.
The Georgia Tech student-athletes will again join forces with local Marines to collect Toys for Tots for the holidays. Local members of the United States Marine Corps will be on hand to collect the toys with the Georgia Tech student-athletes for each of the collection dates, beginning Nov. 20 and continuing through the first week of December.
“We are looking forward to working with the Marine Toys for Tots program, which will get the toys we collect directly back to the Atlanta community,” added Thomas. “And we are so fortunate to have members of the United States Marine Corps on hand to assist in collecting those toys again this year.”
While the majority of the toys will be donated to the Toys for Tots charity, a portion of them will be set aside for Hillside Home for Children, a local foster care facility in which the Georgia Tech student-athletes have been volunteering for the last two years. Following the conclusion of final exams in December, Georgia Tech student-athletes host a Christmas party for Hillside and presented them with a portion of the toys collected as gifts for the kids – an event in which they would like to continue this holiday season.
Over the last seven years, Georgia Tech has collected more than 10,000 toys and over $10,000 that have gone to local kids in time for the holiday. This year, the Georgia Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board has set high hopes of collecting 2,000 toys, and are asking fans to help achieve this lofty goal in 2008.
The Toy Drive was the brainchild of former Georgia Tech basketball player Michael Isenhour in an effort to help 9/11 families, and began in 2001 as Isenhour was battling leukemia. The Georgia Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board renamed it the Michael Isenhour Toy Drive to create an ongoing legacy to their fellow student-athlete, who lost his battle with cancer in 2002.
Toy Drive Collection Dates for 2008:
Miami – Georgia Tech Football Game, Nov. 20
Maryland – Georgia Tech Volleyball Match, Nov. 22
Georgia – Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball Game, Dec. 5
Vanderbilt – Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball Game, Dec. 6
