It’s pretty clear now. The U.S. Marines’ massive Toys for Tots gift-giving project and all its big red bags blends beautifully with LINC blue.

A year ago, it was more of a crisis intervention when LINC for the first time dispatched a fleet of helpers in the final days ahead of Christmas to speed the sorting, bagging and tagging of toys that had overwhelmed the Marines’ warehouse in south Kansas City.

This time around, the blue-shirted LINC team members are on the job from the get-go. The operation is neatly and efficiently routing the gifts coming in from a 350-mile radius around Kansas City into ready storage bins well ahead of Christmas — even as the Marines prepare to distribute more than 50,000 toys, compared to roughly 40,000 last year.

“LINC has been a huge help,” said U.S. Marines Staff Sgt. Warren Ory. “We couldn’t do it on our own.”

The Marines have been collecting new, unwrapped toys in its Toys for Tots program since the late 1940s — and the mission has grown steadily over nearly eight decades.

LINC has for many years taken part in distributing toys as one of the KC-area non-profits that the Marines use to pick up sorted toys and pass them out to families in time for Christmas.

Last year, when LINC Program Specialist Carl Wade visited the warehouse to pick up bags of toys, he saw that the Marines needed help. Covid-19 had limited the number of organizations that had been sending volunteers, and the staff were swimming in mountains of unsorted toys.

“We’ve partnered with the U.S. Marines to provide toys for our children and our families,” Wade said. “But last year there was a need for volunteers. LINC stepped up and we are continuing this partnership this year, and we will continue (in coming years).”

On a recent mid-week morning, the LINC team and the Marines were able to clear the toys from the warehouse floor by noon, loading all of the giant red bags into a row of outdoor storage containers, the toys sorted by gender and age.

That was good, Ory said, because “we have 26 pallets of toys coming on deck that we will have to break down, sort, count and put into the pods.”

And it’s not too late for donors to add to the tide of toys, Ory said. The Marines want all toy donations to be made by Monday, Dec. 13, though Ory said they will continue to pick up from drop-off sites through Dec. 17.

To donate or to find drop-off locations, go to: https://kansas-city-mo.toysfortots.org/