"Anything we can do to brighten the holidays for the children of less fortunate families in our community is a positive. It makes us feel good to donate and it brings some happiness to the kids. So it's all good as far as I'm concerned. The arena is decorated really nicely for the holidays inside and outside, so that kind of gets you in the spirit just walking around, but what really matters is how much help you can give to others," said Kelly, the Flyers' longtime Ambassador of Hockey.
This year marks the third annual edition of the Flyers' Alumni's 12 Days of Christmas Giving campaign. Launched in 2019, the program is dedicated to providing assistance on a daily basis -- making monetary donations to various charities, volunteering time and/or providing items of need to local community outreach groups, providing direct assistance to specific families or individuals in need, etc. -- over a 12-day span during the holiday season.
Marsh jointly serves as the Flyers director of community development and the president of the Flyers Alumni Association. He said that it made sense to overlap the 12 Days program with the Flyers Community Relations and Flyers Charities Toy Drive by devoting one of the 12 days to the Toy Drive.
"Plain and simple, we felt we could do the most good for people in the community by teaming up one portion of 12 Days with the Flyers' Toy Drive. It strengthens both campaigns at the same time," Marsh said.
Prior to making the donation, Marsh purchased dozens of toys, games and puzzles from a local, independently owned store in his South Jersey community. The store specializes in selling educational toys that support cognitive development and/or fine motor skill refinement.
"We think it's important, especially nowadays with so many small businesses still hurting from the pandemic, to support a small business in our local area by making a large purchase. My wife Patti is a longtime teacher. I wanted the toys we donated to have some educational or developmental value to the kids who receive them, as well as being fun. So I think doing it this way kind of checked off all the boxes," Marsh said.
"Sometimes, charity begins at home. We're working together on this within the Flyers Family. The Toy Drive donations stay within the Delaware Valley community, and the money we spent on the toy purchases stays in my local community. I think it fits in perfectly with the goals of 12 Days."
Kelly noted one additional benefit to the Alumni's donation to the Toy Drive.
"Hopefully, people going to the Flyers game on Saturday (against Ottawa) will hear about the Flyers Alumni -- and a lot of the current players, from what I understand -- chipping in to the Toy Drive, and they'll donate a toy or two when they come to the next game. The bigger the team effort, the more successful it will be. The Flyers fans are part of the team; actually, the biggest part," Kelly said.
