周一，美国总统乔·拜登和第一夫人吉尔·拜登在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿举行的美国海军陆战队为孩子储备玩具活动上分拣礼物，以庆祝该慈善项目75周年。
“75年来，你给这个国家的所有家庭带来了欢乐、笑声和微笑。仅去年一年，你们就为800多万儿童收集了2200万件玩具，让圣诞老人望尘莫及。“但是不像圣诞老人，你没有穿红色的大衣服。你不可能在一夜之间环游世界。取而代之的是，你穿着蓝色和军绿色的礼服，作为海军陆战队士兵和水兵，你每晚都在世界各地站岗。”
拜登夫妇与国防部高级官员和当地军人子女的配偶一起，在迈尔-亨德森联合基地大厅参加了“玩具给孩子”的分类标志，按照年龄将捐赠的礼物分发给有需要的家庭。
周一的活动是第一夫人帮助军人家庭的联合行动的一部分。
在熙熙攘攘的大厅里发表的简短讲话中，总统赞扬了服役人员作为“我们国家的脊梁”所发挥的作用，以及他们在家乡的家人，他们也通过支持他们所爱的人来为国家服务，他说，这在假期期间可能特别困难。
拜登的儿子博(Beau)在国民警卫队(National Guard)海外服役后，于2015年死于脑癌，总统周一表示，理解每年的这个时候对像那些在场的家庭一样的家庭来说可能是“格外艰难的”。
“当我们的儿子博被派往伊拉克一年的时候，每天晚上都很难看到餐桌上的空座位，尤其是在节假日。对于我们的孙女和孙子来说，他们和今天在座的许多人一样大，在圣诞节早晨没有他们的父亲更难。
“我想告诉你我对他们说的话:你必须保持勇敢——你必须勇敢——即使你的爸爸妈妈离你很远，他们也为你感到骄傲，”他补充道。"作为你们的总统，我为你们感到骄傲."
第一夫人去年也参加了迈尔-亨德森联合基地的年度活动。周一，她也发表了简短的讲话，但为患喉炎道歉，并邀请一个男孩亚当上台帮她朗读《圣诞怪杰》中的一段
有一次，这位资深教师让孩子们玩猜谜游戏，问他们认为白宫里有多少棵圣诞树。
“你们都很接近了，因为我们白宫里有77棵树，”她说。
第一夫人说:“如果有一群孩子明白节日不仅仅是圣诞树下的东西，那就是你们——你们所有人——我们的军人子女。”。“你也明白，最有意义的礼物不可能是握在我们手中的礼物。”
据该慈善机构称，自1947年以来，儿童玩具项目已经见证了海军陆战队和志愿者向超过2.81亿儿童分发了超过6.27亿件玩具。
每年10月至12月，在全县800多个社区开展“儿童玩具”活动。
Biden marks holidays with Toys for Tots event
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden sorted gifts at a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots event in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday to celebrate the charity program's 75th anniversary.
"For 75 years, you brought joy and laughter and smiles to families all across this country. Last year alone you collected 22 million toys for more than 8 million children, giving Santa a run for his money," President Biden said. "But unlike Santa, you're not wearing big red suits. You don't travel the world in just one night. Instead, you wear a dress, blues and army greens and, as Marines soldiers, sailors, you stand watch around the world every single night."
The Bidens joined spouses of senior Department of Defense and local military children at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in the Toys for Tots hallmark of sorting unwrapped, donated gifts by age for distribution to families in need.
Monday's event was part of the first lady's Joining Forces initiative to help military families.
In brief remarks in the bustling hall, the president praised service members for their role as the "spine of our nation," as well as their family members back home, who also serve the country by supporting their loved ones, he said, which can be especially difficult during the holidays.
Biden's son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 after he served overseas with the National Guard, and the president said on Monday that understands this time of year can be "extra tough" for families like those present.
"When our son Beau was deployed in Iraq for a year, it was hard to look at that empty seat at the dinner table every night, particularly in the holidays. And for our granddaughters and grandson, they were the same age as many of you here today, it was even harder not to have their dad around Christmas morning," he said.
"I want to tell you what I told them: You have to keep brave -- you have to be brave -- even when your mommies and daddies are far away, they are so proud of you," he added. "And I'm so proud of you, as your president."
First Lady Jill Biden holds a copy of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss during in a Toys for Tots sorting event at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., on Dec. 12, 2022.
Patrick Semansky/AP
The first lady participated in the annual drive at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall last year as well. She also gave brief remarks on Monday but apologized for having laryngitis and invited a boy, Adam, on stage to help her read a passage from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
At one point, the longtime teacher engaged the children with a guessing game, asking them how many Christmas trees they thought were in the White House.
"You're all pretty close, because we have 77 trees in the White House," she said.
"If there's one group of kids who understand that the holidays are about more than what's under the tree, it's you -- all of you -- our military children," the first lady said. "And you understand that gifts that mean the most can't be the ones held in our hands."
Since 1947, the Toys for Tots program has seen Marines and volunteers distribute more than 627 million toys to over 281 million children, according to the charity.
Local Toys for Tots campaigns are conducted annually from October through December in over 800 communities across the county.
