MARLBOROUGH – Local bikers recently dropped off boxes of new toys at the Marlborough police station to be put toward the larger Toys for Tots charity’s mission.
The donation came after community members filled collection boxes set up by Marlborough’s Eagle Riders, a motorcycle-riding subgroup of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, Aerie 3565.
“The response was overwhelming!” Eagles Riders president Bill Paynton told the Community Advocate. “Our motto is ‘People helping people’ so this is a great fit.”
Marlborough has had an Eagles Aerie group since 1974. In 2009, it added a chapter of the Eagle Riders, a 501 (3)c charity organization whose members are all motorcycle riders and enthusiasts. The group does numerous charity rides throughout the year to raise money and awareness for causes such as Special Olympics, cancer, and autism, among other things.
Paynton specifically came into his role in October. He immediately chose to start a Toys for Tots fundraiser.
“This was one of the first things I wanted to bring back, as we hadn’t done the toy collection in a few years,” he said.
The Eagles Riders received collection boxes from the Marine Corps Reserve Office in Worcester and left them out for about a month.
Officer Borden Wicks of the Marlborough Police Department then met the Eagle Riders at the Marlborough police station to accept this donation to their Toys for Tots program on Dec. 4.
“Next year I want to really expand this, with boxes all over town and maybe some competitions between different organizations,” Paynton said of future plans.
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