Carnegie Mellon Engineering Students Volunteer To Make Marine Corps “Toys for Tots” Campaign Successful

November 30, 2006
Contact: Chriss Swaney
(412) 268-5776

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University engineering students will culminate their participation in the U.S. Marine Corps’ “Toys for Tots’ campaign when they deliver more than $1,000 worth of toys via horse and sleigh to U.S. Marine Corps personnel at noon, Dec. 4 in front of Carnegie Mellon’s University Center off Forbes Avenue.

“We’re extremely excited about being able to contribute to the annual Marine Corps ‘Toys for Tots’ holiday drive to collect gifts for needy children,” said Joshua Bordin, a freshman engineering major and head of the toy drive. “I think our involvement is really making a difference, since the postal service is not permitting the traditional collection of toys at area post offices this year.”

The College's Dean Pradeep Khosla and students took part in the festivities on Dec. 4, when a horse-drawn sleigh traveled across campus to deliver $1500 worth of toys to waiting Marines.

“Toys for Tots” was established in 1947 by the U.S. Marine Corps to help less-fortunate children during the holiday season. Bordin said students will do more shopping for toys this weekend before loading the unwrapped gifts into an ornate sleigh that will be pulled by two black Percheron horses from the university’s Hunt Library off Frew Street across campus to the University Center, where Marines will reload the toys into a caravan of cars and vans.

Thomas Ehrlich, a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation, applauds the engineering students for both their holiday spirit and creativity. “In general, universities nationwide are increasingly stressing the need for students to become more service-oriented,” Ehrlich said. In fact, educational associations nationwide are praising and encouraging more student involvement in the community and the local economy.

“This is just one of many ways that Carnegie Mellon is contributing to the greater Pittsburgh and southwest Pennsylvania region,” said Terry W. Hartle, a senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education. “University faculty, staff and students are volunteering in their communities, working with local businesses and lending expertise to their local governments. Taken together, it represents an enormous boost for the local economy and the needs of the region.”

“We are gratified to see our students take part in worthwhile endeavors that show they are contributing members of the larger community,” said Professor Ed Schlesinger, head of Carnegie Mellon’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. For more, see www.cmu.edu.