Washington, D.C. - U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James announced the conclusion of OPM's annual toy drive to provide toys to the children of service members aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (USSTR) as OPM staff delivered over 1,700 toys to the USSTR holiday party.

"The whole objective of OPM's annual toy drive is to share joy with children," stated James. "Many of these children's parents are uniformed men and women who are ready to deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq, and those who are already in harm's way serving our nation. Often these children don't have one or both of their parents with them to share the holidays, so we at OPM do our best to spread the spirit of the season in thanks for their sacrifice."

The toys were distributed Saturday at the annual Christmas party held for the families of USSTR service members. This year marks the fourth time OPM has conducted its toy drive.

"Once again the people at OPM have overwhelmed us with their generosity in support of our children's holiday party," stated USS Theodore Roosevelt Captain Johnny "Turk" Green. "We can't thank everyone enough for all they've done and the support they've shown for the entire crew and their families."

OPM, which is housed in the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building, officially ‘adopted' the USS Theodore Roosevelt shortly after September 11, 2001 when the ship and crew were serving in the Middle East in the war on terrorism. The commonality of the aircraft carrier's name and the agency name created what James calls "a natural bond between our two organizations, and it has proven extremely valuable."

Our mission is to ensure the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce. OPM supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.