Toys for Tots To Continue Using Old Whitman St. Rec Center for Warehouse

Toccoa City Commissioners agree to let the Marine Corps League continue using the old Whitman Street Recreation Center for at least another five years.

Monday, city commissioners unanimously approved a five-year lease with the option for a five-year renewal with the Marine Corps League for the facility.

The new lease replaces a lease that automatically renewed each year unless either side chose to terminate it.

In September, Mount Zion Baptist Church had asked the commission for it to use the Whitman Street Recreation Center as a facility for youth and teen activities.

The Marine Corps League uses it mainly as a warehouse for the Toys for Tots program.

However, Stephens County Toys for Tots Coordinator Don Alexander said that having that warehouse is crucial to the program.

“We have to box everything up and store it,” said Alexander. “A.J. (Pavliscsak) used to store it for us at a good price, but it still cost $800 to store it from January to October and during that time, it took me all those months to find a warehouse where we could work out of.”

Alexander said that the Marine Corps League does not just use the building for Toys for Tots.

He said they have been able to serve the community in other ways through the use of that building.

According to Alexander, he received thousands of books for local schools in 2012 that he would not have been able to accept and distribute without having the warehouse facility.

Also, Alexander noted that the Marine Corps League has invested more than $3,500 in improvements to the building.

Toccoa City Commissioner Jeannette Jamieson said the city needs to recognize that and continue the partnership.

“I think we need to acknowledge the amount of money they have spent on that property already, renovating it and improving it, and that they have a year-round program, not just a Christmas program, I think we need to acknowledge that,” said Jamieson.

City commissioners thanked the Marine Corps League for all it does for the community through the Toys for Tots program and other efforts.