Local musician gives back

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Local musician gives back
BEACON PHOTO/ELI WITEK FROM THE HEART — Chuck Morton, Debbie Morton, Rebecca and Noah Deeb, Reed Foley, Scott Stiltner pose in front of the hundreds of toys Foley was able to donate to Toys for Tots. Many of the toys are music themed — there are keyboards, ukuleles, and guitars, among assorted other things. Foley and Stiltner serve on the Port Orange City Council together.

Reed Foley, a local country singer (and member of the Port Orange City Council), has donated more than $15,000 worth of toys for Toys for Tots this year.

“We were blown away by the response from the fans,” Foley said.

It’s only been two weeks since Foley began a fundraising campaign, setting out a donation bucket at all of his concerts across Central Florida and promoting the effort on his website

“At my shows, we put out a bucket, and as it would fill up, some people would say, if we get to $1,000, I’ll match it with a check,” Foley said.

This is Foley’s fourth year donating to Toys for Tots, a United States Marine Corps Reserve program that distributes toys to thousands of children in Volusia County every year at Christmastime.

“In 2020, we had a goal of $500 — and we got $3,000 in donations,” Foley said. “This year, we made the goal of $3,000, and donations were around $15,000.”

That’s 400 percent more than what he was shooting for — and the 800 toys bought with the money (including 26 bikes, with bike locks and helmets) will provide toys for more than 230 children.

So far, Toys for Tots has distributed around 4,000 toys, local coordinator Tarayn Korkus Nix said. By the end of the season, organizers expect they have distributed more than 35,000 toys to nearly 9,000 children, similar to their numbers in 2020. 

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