BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. — The Marshall football team is set to continue its tradition of giving back to the community during the holiday season.
The annual toy drive, that has happened since Coach Doc Holliday began, is at the Walmart in Barboursville on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The goal of the drive is to fill the Herd’s equipment truck with toys that will go towards kids in need in the tri-state area.
“There’s a lot of kids in the tri-state area and throughout the state of West Virginia that struggle to get what they need. This gives us a chance to put a smile on their face,” Holliday said on Tuesday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline.’
The entire team is slated to be there to help holiday shoppers and children look for the perfect gifts. In recent years, the team stuffed the equipment truck with over $30,000 worth of toys. Anyone that donates to the toy drive can earn raffle tickets to be entered to win special prizes.
Holliday said his team enjoy the event partly because some of them grew up less fortunate.
“They woke up at Christmas sometimes and didn’t have a whole lot there. They have a true understanding of what it means at Christmas when you don’t have a whole lot. So for them to go out and provide for somebody else, they enjoy it,” Holiday said.
.@DOCMUFB, coach of @HerdFB, joins @HoppyKercheval to discuss the Marshall gift drive and the Gasparilla Bowl game against UCF. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/8rdhBDO89G
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) December 10, 2019
Holliday said that nearly all the toys go to children in local communities and around the state of West Virginia. As tradition, the team will bring a few down to Florida for their bowl game on December 23. The team does an annual trip to a children’s hospital in the city hosting its bowl game.
Marshall plays against Central Florida on December 23 at 2 p.m. in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa Bay, Florida at Raymond James Stadium.
The game will be broadcasted on ESPN.