Bob Loring attacks poverty in Pasco and Hillsborough head-on
By Kyle LoJacono
Staff Writer
PASCO COUNTY — Toys for Tots of East Pasco has given tens of thousands of toys to needy children in central and east Pasco County since it started in the early 1990s.
TFTEP distributes the toys to kids in all of central and east Pasco, and to children in Hillsborough County if their zip code crosses into Pasco.
Bob Loring is the coordinator for TFTEP and is known as the head elf. The Laker and Lutz News recently talked with Loring about the 2009 toy drive and other groups that help needy families in Pasco and Hillsborough.
The Laker and Lutz News: How many children were helped during the 2009 Toys for Tots drive in east Pasco?
Bob Loring: We now count 4,313 registered children fully served. And that, sir, is a new record for TFTEP.
LLN: What do Pasco families need most now?
BL: Jobs! Until I see new jobs created here in east and central Pasco, I can only assume the number of families needing toys next year, and in future years, will continue to grow.
LLN: Did you receive toys for TFT as a kid?
BL: No, but we were poor. My father was a teacher…I always thought we were middle class. I got involved with TFT when I was in the Marine Corps Reserve between 1963 and 1969. I was a fetch and carry leatherneck for our Miami Reserve Unit, Fourth ANGLICO.
LLN: What is Food for Tots?
BL: I helped start this program in 2002. It’s run by two great guys: pastor Johnny Strickland, a local minister, and Ron Miller. When we met, they wanted to feed the hungry children living across our country. Privacy issues kept them from getting the names of families needing help, so I told them “set up next to my toy distribution…and you’ll be helping families with children in need.” They’ve been with me every year since. And, sir, they’ve never run out of food for our families — never.
LLN: What other programs are you involved with that help the needy?
BL: I chair the Citizens’ Advisor Committee for the Salvation Army in Dade City, and I started The Samaritan Project in Zephyrhills. I founded The American Dream Congress. I helped start Projects of Pasco Inc., a nonprofit that helps start new community efforts. Currently, I’ve submitted a proposal that will create a Center for Community Studies for Pasco County, (which) will provide research support for community leaders and will train students to become involved with community issues.
LLN: Why is helping children important to you?
BL: Our children are the future of our great republic. To ignore them is to gamble away all that America stands for — to us and to the world. We ignore them at our peril.
LLN: Are Pasco children better off or worse off than when you started 10 years ago with TFT?
BL: As you know, I took over the program in 1999. We assisted 400 kids that year. This year there was a crying need to help 10 times that number. I expect things to get worse in the next several years. No question we have more children in poverty than I’ve seen in my lifetime.
LLN: How will you and TFT proceed in 2010?
BL: To start, we need to energize the communities. Each (of the) east and central Pasco communities of Dade City, Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes and the poverty bound folks in the Lacoochee area. In 2010, we will continue to engage these communities in the effort to support and level the playing field for the at risk children living among them.
LLN: How can people help?
BL: I find people respond to a good idea and, if we can make it easy for them to help, they will. All anyone has to do to join our effort is to buy a toy and affix it to their mail box on the appointed day during our post office toy drive. We also need to get our youth involved early and often. They have abundant energy, and they will to become involved. We need to maximize their energy.
LLN: Anything else to add?
BL: Heck yes. Like John Paul Jones said, “We have not yet begun to fight.”
For more information on TFTEP or to help, visit www.toysfortotspasco.org. For more information on other ways to help, e-mail Loring at or call him at (352) 588-4230.
