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Toys For Tots Wakeboard Auction Schedule

Total Amount Raised: $3,898

Well, you did it! WakeWorld readers and a great group of sponsors teamed up to put a lot of smiles on a lot of underprivileged children's faces this Christmas season. Together we raised $3,897.65 for the Marine's Toys For Tots program. In the process, 15 lucky WakeWorld readers got some great deals on wakeboarding gear packages donated by our sponsors.

The whole idea, which was suggested by Brian Strand of Liquid Trends, was to put together some kind of charity event as we head into the holiday season. We've always thought it would be a good idea to auction off wakeboarding packages for charity, so we jumped on the idea and decided it would work even better if we donated the proceeds to Toys for Tots.

WakeWorld's David Williams hands a check to Marine Sgt. Paul Garwood

Toys For Tots collects new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year and distributes those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community. The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.

Since we ran the auction pretty close to the Toys for Tots deadline for getting toy in, we decided to spend part of the money on toys and to donate the rest to Toys for Tots in cash. I spent a few hours pulling three carts through an incredibly crowded Wal-Mart on Saturday piling up as many toys as we could handle in one trip. I never realized it would be so tough to spend that much money on toys. I was amazed that we were only able to carry out $756.70 worth of toys, which included four bicycles! The toys and the remaining $3,140.95 were donated to the local Toys for Tots location here in San Diego this morning.

Thanks to all the great sponsors that made this benefit possible! Please give the following companies your consideration when making future wake-related purchases: Roswell Wake Air, Kicker, Liquid Trends, Trick Boardz, O'Brien, IslerPhoto, CWB, MasterCraft, Mako Industries, Liberation, Fresh Air Exhaust, Monster Tower, Got River?, Discount Wake, Straight Line, Ten-80 and Alliance. Special mention goes to Roswell Wake Air for turning in the package with the highest retail value at $1,160!

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