148th Fighter Wing honors TSgt Ryan Ewald with 13th annual toy drive

DULUTH, Minn.– For thirteen years, the 148th Fighter Wing has honored Tech Sergeant Ryan Ewald through their annual toy drive.

And this year’s toy haul was quite successful.

Two truckloads of toys were brought in for the salvation army distribution.

One of the airmen said Ewald passed away from an ATV crash and was known for toy drive involvement every holiday season.

They also said this year’s collection was aiming to be more inclusive.

“We have a list on the back of our flyer. You know, these are suggestions from Cindy, so we have that go out,” said Chief Master Sgt. Ryan Gigliotti. “We had so parents with teenagers. They take their kids, ‘Oh, hey, what would you want?’  And then they buy those types of toys. And I think it works out well for everybody doing it that way.”

Ryan Ewald’s father attended today’s distribution, and he said he’s grateful for the continued support.

“I want to thank on the behalf of the Ewald family for all the donations of the generous people around the community in the Guard base and thank Ryan Gigliotti and his crew for putting this all together again and knowing there’s hard times with our economy. Now it’s nice to see the number of toys that were brought here,” said Greg Ewald.

The airman told FOX 21 most of the toys were collected during November.

And it was advertised during their monthly drills.