Great Gorge Golf Club collecting toys

The Great Gorge Golf Club has kicked off a new Christmas in July campaign in partnership with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

The 27-hole course in Vernon will give golfers who donate an unwrapped toy 20 percent off their greens fees for their round.

The club will donate each of the discounted greens fees directly to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

The campaign continues through July 25.

“The work that the Toys for Tots Foundation does during the holiday season is incredibly important and impactful,” said David Killin, general manager of the Great Gorge. “We are proud and excited to not only support those efforts but help extend the foundation’s reach beyond the traditional holiday time frame with our Christmas in July campaign.

“We are confident that golfers from all over the region will respond in droves, making our toy collection and donation mission a success.”

For more than 75 years, Marine Toys for Tots has brought the joy of Christmas to less fortunate children through the collection and distribution of toys during the holiday season.

In 2022, a record-breaking year for the program, 24.4 million toys, books and games were distributed to nearly 10 million children in need. Since its inception in 1947, more than 652 million toys have been distributed to more than 291 million children.

“We are very pleased to welcome the support of the Great Gorge Golf Club,” said retired Marine Colonel Ted Silvester, vice president of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation “With their generous support, we will be able to fulfill the Christmas holiday dreams of many children in need, who otherwise might have been forgotten.”