Toys for Tots is partnering with the Green Bay Packers right in time for the holidays

In 1947, a group of Marine Reservists lead by Major Bill Hendricks collected around 5,000 toys and handed them out to underprivileged children in Los Angeles. This charitable act was inspired in part by Hendricks’ wife, Diane, who felt frustration after being unable to find an organization that would accept and donate her homemade doll.

Thus began Toys for Tots, a program now run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve that has given out roughly 512 million toys to hundreds of millions of needy children.

On December 3, the organization is taking up temporary residency in an unlikely spot: The parking lot of Wisconsin’s Lambeau Field. Capitalizing on the love of Wisconsin's love of football, The Green Bay Packers’ Toys for Tots collection will take place at the historic stadium prior to the Green Bay Packers-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game.

The toy collection is all part of Green Bay Packers Give Back — an all-encompassing community outreach initiative that promises to use the fame of the Packers as a “vehicle to assure continued contributions to charity” and help make the holidays season for the less fortunate a wonderful time of the year.

Alongside collecting brand new toys, U.S. Marines will be collecting cash donations as well.