Stolen Toys Replaced In Worcester
WORCESTER (CBS) - When some Marines landed at the Lucky Dog Music Hall in Worcester Monday afternoon, trash bags filled with new toys packed the stage awaiting pickup.
"I think in the end it worked out pretty well for us," says Gunnery Sargent James DaPonte, who oversees the Toys for Tots program in Worcester County.
But things looked pretty bleak on Saturday on this front, when the club's annual 'Santapalooza' event to benefit the program was torpedoed by a Grinch -- sometime after club-goers all donated a new, unwrapped toy at the door.
That's when some heartless thieves smashed a window in the Marines rental van parked nearby, and swiped all of the toys they had just loaded into it.
"Of all the things that could happen," says event organizer Tim Broadbent, "we didn't even consider that someone would break into the van and steal the toys."
"I thought 'what are we going to do now?'" says club owner Bill Luff.
But disgust became determination come Sunday morning.
Toys for Tots is in the home stretch at this point, and the Marines in Worcester County are hoping to distribute toys to more than 20,000 needy kids come the end of this week. So the Lucky Dog crowd hit social media hard, and opened up Sunday night to right a wrong.
"I opened up the bar at 5 o'clock," says owner Luff, "and by 5:15 we had more toys than we had the night before."
"The proof was in the pudding," adds organizer Broadbent.
Indeed, the Lucky Dog collected five times more toys with its rebound effort -- and took in more than double the cash -- for a total of close to $4500.
"It shows there are still caring people out there who want to do the right thing," observes Sgt. DaPonte.
"It tells me there are good people out there," says Bill Luff. "Not just bad people."
The bad people who stole the toys have not yet been caught. But the good people have made Christmas merrier for some needy kids.
"This is amazing," smiles Broadbent.
"It turned out great," says Luff. "People are just awesome. Sometimes Worcester gets a bad rap."
As it turns out, the Marines needed two trucks to cart away toys from the Lucky Dog.
The Marines are accepting new, unwrapped toys through Thursday. But the gifts need to be delivered to the Toys for Tots warehouse on New Bond Street.
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