By Rebecca Danvers

A toy drive to benefit children of military personnel is taking place now through Dec. 18. The effort is sponsored by Operation Homefront and is being represented locally by West Somerville Dental, here in Somerville. Donations of toys can be brought to West Somerville Dental office at 124 College Ave.

Operation Homefront (OH) provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors.

Through generous, widespread public support and a collaborative team of exceptional staff and volunteers, OH aspires to become the provider of choice for emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors. Where there is a need that they do not provide, they will partner with others for the benefit of our military families.

In 2013, OH met over 165,000 needs for military families, including active duty, Guard and Reserve members from all branches of service. Since its inception, Operation Homefront has provided more than $158 million dollars of funding to programs to benefit military families and have met more than 780,000 needs.

Operation Homefront provides direct services to alleviate a military family’s or individual’s actual/complete emergency financial burden, as well as counseling and/or recovery support. Emergency financial assistance is in the form of checks paid directly to mortgage lenders, auto mechanics, contractors, hospitals, doctors, dentists and other providers.

Other emergency funding assistance, which an applicant receives within 24 to 72 hours, includes: financial assistance, emergency food, emergency home repairs, critical baby items (formula, food and diapers), home and appliance repair, furniture and household items, local moving assistance, community events and Wounded Warrior Transitional Family Housing.

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Operation Homefront was formed in February 2002. It was developed to support the families of deployed service members immediately following 9/11. Operation Homefront is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, and has evolved into a major nonprofit. The organization currently provides services to military families across the nation through a network of field offices. The national office handles cases in states that do not have local field offices. The majority of our clients are the lowest-paid service members, the E-1 through E-6 enlisted ranks.

The target population is American military personnel and/or their families who have unmet needs due to financial hardship, death, injury, or physical or mental detriment as a result of service in Iraq or Afghanistan. These may include active duty, Reserve, National Guard and veteran service members. They are a diverse ethnic group (64 percent are minorities): approximately 20 percent are African-American; 5 percent Asian-American; 34 percent Hispanic/Latino; 5 percent Native American; and 36 percent Caucasian. Roughly 75 percent live at an income level

80 percent below the median income for the communities in which they reside. Nationally, $0.93 of every dollar donated to Operation Homefront goes to programs.

Their Morale programs include the Back To School Brigade (BTSB), which provides backpacks full of school supplies to military children, and the current Holiday Toy Drive (HTD), which provides toys and stocking stuffers to military children in December.

OH’s Homefront Villages allow a family to live with its wounded warrior while he/she is rehabilitating and transitioning out of service, while their Homes on the Homefront program provides mortgage-free homes to service members and wounded warriors.

Contact West Somerville Dental for office hours and further information regarding the Holiday Toy Drive.