Marshall University fraternity Alpha Tau Omega will have its inaugural Santa Taus to collect toys for the less fortunate this holiday season.

Santa Taus is a toy drive ATO will host Sunday at the fraternity house on Fifth Avenue. All the toys collected from the Huntington and Marshall community will be donated to the Salvation Army and provide less fortunate families with gifts for a better Christmas season.

The drive will begin at 9 a.m. and last until 4 p.m. Anyone bringing donations can stop by the ATO house during these hours and drop the toys off.

Members of ATO, and other Greek organizations will be at the house accepting the toys and they will be taken to the Salvation Army Monday.

ATO President Blake Hettlinger said he is hoping to receive a large amount of donations through this event and a lot of support from the Huntington community to give those in need a better Christmas.

“Our philanthropy throughout the year is focused on making the local community better,” Hettlinger said. “One of our annual events, ATO Goes Homeless, has been extremely successful in helping the City Mission. We are hoping the inaugural Santa Taus can have the same impact.”

ATO Vice President Jacob Sowards said he is also looking forward to the event and is happy with the effort his fraternity brothers are putting forward to help the Huntington community.

“It means a lot to me that our guys would take time out of their busy schedules during finals and the hectic Christmas season to help the community,” Sowards said. “Even though we will not see where our efforts go directly, it feels great knowing we are making someone’s Christmas season better.”

ATO will post flyers in an effort to spread awareness of this event and get as many people engaged as possible.

The members have also gone to St. Joe and other local churches and asked for support in helping to spread the word about the event and get more members of the community involved.

They are also reaching out to other Greek organizations on campus and asking for help to receive as many donations as possible.

Cadi Duplaga can be contacted at [email protected].