Lockheed Martin donates $10K to kick off the 2026 Toys for Tots campaign

I can't believe that music's playing already. I know, hard to believe. The holidays are quickly approaching. That means the Marines' Toys for Tots program is already kicking off. This morning, Fort Worth Mayor Maddie Parker is sending out a challenge. Fox 4's Alex Boulay joins us live from City Hall. Hey guys, yeah, you hear all of the excitement, all of the music. I mean, guys, look at the energy this morning. If you aren't awake already, then you clearly are awake right now. We're at the kickoff event here for Marine Toys for Tots here in North Texas. It's happening here behind Fort Worth City Hall. And I can tell you, you see the excitement? You feel the excitement? And I can tell you a very special challenge is happening here as well. We want to bring in Mayor Maddie Parker this morning to talk a little bit about that challenge. Mayor, good morning to you. Are you awake? I think we've got some high energy here, don't we, everybody? No coffee needed, right? No, not at all. Fort Worth knows how to show out. And welcome to Fort Worth City Hall. We're so glad you're here. I appreciate it. We got a warm welcome this morning, of course, nonetheless, from all of these great people out here this morning. You have a challenge that you want to get out there today. Well, Fort Worth is very competitive, and we want to be the very best for Toys for Tots this year. So our challenge really is simple. We want Fort Worth to all bring gifts for Toys for Tots, support our amazing Marines, but we wouldn't be here without Lockheed Martin. I'm joined today by O.J. Sanchez. Thank you, OJ, for you and your team. They have showed up so big. That's why all these wonderful people are here. Lockheed is one of our largest employers. I think over 19,000 employees right here in Fort Worth. But importantly, they're a part of this community. They want to partner with Toys for Tots and our Marine Corps and the Marine Foundation because we want to make sure every single child in our community has the toys they need for this upcoming Christmas season. So we want Fort Worth to show up. We definitely want to beat Arlington. We're going to beat Dallas. And we're going to have all the right locations all across Fort Worth. So is that shout-out to the Arlington mayor? Who are we shouting out this morning? I always love to shout out to Jim Ross and give him a good challenge. I'm going to see him next week, too, so I'll make sure he measures up. All right. You hear that, Mayor. She's coming for you as well. So challenge accepted, I would imagine. Staff Sergeant, really quickly, talk to me about the importance of this wonderful program. This program is by far the best way that we can get to low-income families, people that are just down on their luck, so we can not only support them, their kids, but the overall community so we can help everyone. Our goal is to not only pass what we did last year, but beat whatever competition we have, as well as working with them to ensure we help everyone. Absolutely. It's a little bit of give and take, Staff Sergeant. Thanks for all that you do. And I'm going to turn over here to O.J. Sanchez with Lockheed Martin. O.J., I know you want to make sure that they kick off on the right foot. Tell me about what Lockheed Martin's doing this morning. Well, first, like Mayor Parker said, we just love being a part of this community. All 19,000 people, this is where we live and work. Fort Worth is the fighter pilot capital of the world. We produce more aerospace and defense here. And every year, those mechanics, those engineers, turns themselves from fighter planes to building bikes alongside our Marines. So we look forward to that every year. We hope that this year everyone will join the journey here to help all the children here in the Fort Worth area have a great Christmas. Absolutely. If we could, we'd love to give Staff Sergeant here a gift. Everybody likes money. Yeah, that's right. So our Marines are a big part of all our country's security, and we so are appreciative of Staff Sergeant. Thank you very much. 10,000 off the program sounds pretty good let's keep the momentum going guys i'm going to throw it back to you in the studio yeah no coffee needed there i'm loving the excitement there That's awesome, awesome Alex, thanks so much, yeah, good luck to everybody out there raising money and gathering toys for Toys for Tots, we'll be covering all those events here throughout the holiday season here on Good Day