Making smiles bright, College of the Mainland students and employees donated five overflowing boxes of new toys to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation during the holiday drive.

COMPeers, an employee group dedicated to fostering community and college relationships, coordinated the drive, which collected $1,600  of toys. Students in the COM Veterans Association and in Collegiate High School group Nu Psi also donated and participated in raffle ticket sales.

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys each year and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

This is COM’s third year to participate.

The group is still accepting donations of Box Tops for Education for local schools, on a rotation basis, and pop tops from aluminum cans to benefit Ronald McDonald House in Galveston.

For more about COMPeers, email Rosie Rojas at rrojas@com.edu.