Toys for Tots Turns Down Donation

The Marine Reserves’ Toys for Tots program has turned down an offer of 4,000 battery-powered Jesus dolls that quote Bible verses, the Associated Press reports.

A Los Angeles toy company, the Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company, offered to donate the dolls so that the organization could then give them to needy children this holiday season. But the charity declined because of the dolls’ religious nature.

Children who benefit from the program are selected based on financial need, said Bill Grein, vice president of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Va. “We don’t know anything about their background, their religious affiliations,” he said.

Michael La Roe, director of business development for the toy company, said the charity’s decision left him “surprised and disappointed.”