CROSS LAKE, Maine — For nearly two decades, Toys for Tots organizer Rudolph St. Peter has been helping families and kids in need get toys in time for Christmas.
Just last Sunday, St. Peter was injured in a head-on collision in the town of New Canada, but he was back to work the next morning.
He said he had only purchased his truck last year, and since then he’d already put in 1,000 miles on it just for Toys for Tots. He came home from the hospital on Sunday night, and by 10:30 the next morning he was back to work making calls and arrangements for the program.
“I’m back on it,” he said. “I’m making calls and making sure all the T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted and making sure the toys go out.”
Information about other people involved in Sunday’s car collision was unavailable Friday.
St. Peter’s quick return to his Toys for Tots responsibilities is only the most recent example of his dedication. Just last year, he and his wife delivered toys to a family in need on Christmas Eve.
“The family was in need and didn’t have anything,” he said, “so we went and helped them and made sure they had a Christmas.”
Now they’re working on helping a St. Francis family with 11 children.
In return, St. Peter said some families and kids have made him gifts, including a hand-painted butterfly on canvas from a young girl with a message saying that she is forever thankful for the toys.
“That really hits you right in the heart,” he said. “That means the world to us.”
Last year the program gave toys to 2,382 kids, he said. His territory goes from Benedicta to Allagash. He said many of the toys, about 90%, come from Virginia, where the Toys for Tots national headquarters are located. Toys for Tots is a US M C Reserve program.
“If it wasn’t for the Marines bringing toys up for us, our kids would not be able to get enough toys,” he said.
The toys are stored and sorted at a St. Agatha warehouse owned by R.F. Chamberlain, a local trucking company. St. Peter said the company offers the warehouse at no cost for Toys of Tots.
“They also provide trucking if needed, and with proper forklifts to unload the trucks when they come in from Virginia,” St. Peter said.
He said they currently have between 300 and 600 local donations and will be collecting toys up until they’re picked up on December 15th.
This year, he said there are over 700 children in the county in need of toys.
He said the demand for toys has grown every year, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“People just don’t have the money,” he said. “They’re saving it for heat and food.”
To handle the increased demand, he said Toys for Tots has added sites throughout the past couple years, including Dollar General, Marden’s in Houlton, and Ruska Coffee Company in Caribou.
St. Peter himself is a former Marine. He said he served for six years in the Marines, two years in the Army, and 21 years in the National Guard. He received an honorable discharge and later became a Commander at the American Legion Post in Stockholm.
About 18 years ago, he said he was looking for a way to bring toys to the children in Stockholm who were struggling. He’d heard about the Marines Toys for Tots program, which helped supply the toys.
“I called them up and they came to our rescue,” St. Peter said. “And then I said, ‘How do I get involved?’”
St. Peter has been involved as the Aroostook County coordinator ever since. His territory at first covered from Presque Isle to Allagash. A couple other coordinators later dropped out of the program about four years ago, and since then St. Peter has covered the entire county. He does, however, have assistants who help in the southern Aroostook area.
“I call them elves,” he said. “And they help us tremendously.”
There had been a Toys for Tots program in Aroostook County before St. Peter took the reins. His predecessor was a Marine in Madawaska, but the position was briefly vacant before St. Peter stepped in.
A full list of drop-off sites is available on the Aroostook Toys for Tots website, and includes towns in northern, central and southern Aroostook County.
St. Peter said that he and others do this work purely as volunteers and do not get paid. But the kind words and feedback he hears from families and kids on Christmas makes it all worthwhile.
“You can’t exchange that for any money in the world,” he said.
