The morning sun’s rays fall upon a stack of coloring books, plush dolls and action figures within the niche of a bench window. Felt stockings embroidered with messages of holiday cheer rest nearby, and each one is stuffed with items from the small mountain of toys. This isn’t Santa’s workshop, but for the children of some U.S. Coast Guard and Oregon Army National Guard families near the Columbia River, it’s pretty close.

The Coast Guard Family Organization, with help from Operation Homefront, Dollar Tree Inc. and donations from the community, has managed to collect approximately 50 boxes of toys for the children of enlisted service members at Coast Guard units and Camp Rilea near Warrenton. Jennifer Bassett, a Marine Corps veteran and the spouse of Chief Joshua Bassett, an active duty Coast Guardsman serving aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alert, founded the Coast Guard Family Organization in 2008 for situations just like this.

“The families of Coast Guard members aren’t eligible for all of the same benefits as the families of other military service members,” said Bassett. “The goal of the Coast Guard Family Organization is to help Coast Guard families, and one of the ways we’re doing that is by working with Operation Homefront to recognize the sacrifices and hardships of these children whose parents are often away from home for months to years at a time.”

Members of the local community helped the toy drive by making donations through Dollar Tree, which has partnered with Operation Homefront for three years.

“For the last three years, Dollar Tree and its customers have helped boost the morale of our nation’s service members,” said Operation Homefront Chief Executive Officer Jim Knotts. “Military families are not only dealing with the effects of the war, but also the economic recession. They’ve been hit especially hard over the last year. These donated toys will allow them to provide a happy holiday for their children.”

The toys collected by Bassett and her volunteers will be distributed to the children of enlisted military members who receive the lowest pay, and she estimates they’ve received enough toys for 400 kids.

Stocking-stuffing and toy distribution will continue through Dec. 31. Bassett, who is still looking for volunteers to help stuff and deliver stockings to the units, can be reached at (978) 400-6924.