In ‘bleak’ year, Centre County Toys for Tots helped by largest donation in decades
About $40,000 has been donated since November to Centre County Toys for Tots, a nonprofit that nearly depleted its emergency reserves earlier this year.
The organization’s bank account was buoyed by a single $15,000 donation, the largest in more than three decades, campaign coordinator Gene Weller said Monday. Toys for Tots typically manages between $15,000 to $23,000 annually.
“The timing was especially critical. At that point, things were looking pretty bleak,” Weller said. “But knowing that we had that $15,000, we could suddenly then see the light that we would at least be able to buy a good chunk of the extra toys that we thought we were going to need.”
The largest donation Centre County Toys for Tots received in at least 34 years came from Charles H. “Skip” Smith, a Penn State graduate and State College resident who has donated millions to Happy Valley.
The 1948 alumnus and philanthropist donated $11.8 million to the university to fuel the creation and expansion of The Arboretum. He donated an additional $5 million to advance the university’s brain repair research.
Smith, who Penn State described as “among the most generous donors” in the university’s history, founded State College TV Supply in 1950, a business that was later renamed State College Audio-Visual Supply and passed down to his youngest son, John B. Smith.
The plan was for $10,000 to replenish Toys for Tots’ emergency reserves, with the remaining $5,000 expected to be used at Weller’s discretion.
“Dad was emotionally touched by the fact that they needed that reserve and they needed money this year for Toys for Tots,” John B. Smith said. “He was very adamant with me that he wanted the money to stay locally.”