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PRESIDENT AND CEO, MARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION, TRIANGLE
PRESIDENT AND CEO, MARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION, TRIANGLE
Virginia Business// August 30, 2023//
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Toys for Tots is far more than a Christmastime charity. During its 2022 campaign, the foundation distributed more than 24.3 million toys, books and games to a record 9.9 million children in need during its 75th year.
“There are approximately 11 million children in the U.S. who live at or below the poverty level,” says Laster. “Our mission at the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is to reach as many of those children as possible.”
Last year, the organization assisted less fortunate families in 833 communities within the 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.
Laster has served as Toys for Tots president and CEO since 2020, after serving 38 years in the Marine Corps, where he reached the rank of lieutenant general and served as chief of war plans on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired from the service in 2018. He’s a senior fellow for the National Defense University.
He is a graduate of New Mexico Military Institute, Southwest Texas State University and the National War College. The Marine Corps presented Laster with the Leftwich Trophy for outstanding leadership in 1989.
