Scott Griswold is in the middle of another busy day at work. He’s the owner of Fullerton’s Appliance Center in Erie. 

“We’re the last locally-owned appliance business in the area,” he said.

There are two Toys For Tots donation boxes next to the front door. “We started doing it [in] 2018, I think,” Griswold said.

 Many businesses are in the program that gives toys to kids whose families can’t afford them. But at this business, it means a lot more.

“My kids were recipients of Toys For Tots,” he said. 

He was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. when Hurricane Katrina hit. His family’s house flooded. His wife and kids moved up to Erie and had nothing. 

“Everything that was touching the ground got thrown out for lack of a better way of saying it,” he said. 

He’s not sure how his kids got picked for the program but he is sure that it gave them a great Christmas.

“That just kind of made it a lot easier to give the kids a Christmas that was somewhat normal,” he said.

Now he wants to give other kids a great Christmas and he doesn’t want to stop.

“That’s why Toys For Tots is something important to me.”