Year-Round Beverly Marine Corps Toys For Tots Drop Off Spot Opens

BEVERLY, MA — The Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program has found a year-round home in Beverly.

The drop-off site at Beverly Veterans Services — the first year-round collection location in either Essex or Middlesex County — opened at 93 Herrick Street on Friday in what Beverly Veterans Services Agent David Perinchief and Marine Staff Sergeant Marco Antonio Gonzalez hope will be a growing connection between the city and the charitable arm of the military branch.

"It's a very big step in establishing our partnership with Beverly," Gonzalez told Patch. "This will help us show our involvement with the community and that Marines are doing right by the community more than just three or four months (leading up to Christmas) each year."

Gonzalez said future community efforts could include involving Beverly in its expansive book program for libraries and local boys and girls clubs.

"We definitely look forward to building up on this," Gonzalez said. "We hope this will be a stepping stone that helps us lock in a second year-round drop-off location in the area.

"We are looking forward to continuing to build on not only our impact in the Beverly area but the whole of Essex and Middlesex County."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)