LARAMIE, Wyo. – In the spirit of the holiday season, the University of Wyoming Student-Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Laramie Detachment #777 of the Marine Corps League teamed up to collect Toys for Tots at four separate UW Athletic Events on Nov. 19-20. Thanks to the generosity of people throughout the community, this year's collection efforts were once again a huge success.

"This year we had the opportunity to collect at four different Wyoming Athletic sporting events in one weekend," junior swimmer and Toys for Tots Chair, Samantha Zavala said. "We had a great turn out of student-athletes and Marine Corps League volunteers who really brought their best. Not only did we receive generous donations, but our student-athletes had a great time getting to know the donors. We are very thankful for every cent raised and are really excited to see the children's faces when they open their gifts!" 

A total of $6,014.60 and 25 unwrapped toys were donated. Over 60 UW student-athletes were involved in collecting the toys and cash donations from Wyoming fans between that Saturday and Sunday. Just last night, a number of Cowboy and Cowgirl student-athletes used the cash donations to purchase toys for youth in Albany County.

The toys purchased were wrapped and will be presented to Albany County youth at the annual SAAC Carnival this coming Sunday at the UniWyo Sports Complex. UW student-athletes work with the Head Start Program to coordinate families and children that will benefit from all fundraising and toys that are collected.

Last year, Wyoming Athletics and Toys for Tots raised over $4,000 for families in Albany County. Toys for Tots is a program that has been coordinated for a number of years by the United States Marine Corps Reserve. All toys donated and all monetary donations are used to purchase and wrap additional toys for children of Albany County.