Darius Rucker Brings Holiday Cheer to Lindenhurst

Darius Rucker wasted no time after meeting a small group of Lindenhurst residents and U.S. Marines helping him at the Carle Place Toys 'R Us on Monday morning. He grabbed a cart and dove right in — like a kid in, well, a toy shop.

"My wife does not let me do the Christmas shopping at our house," Rucker said laughing. The Hootie and The Blowfish lead singer quickly filled his first cart with various board games and puzzles – only about two minutes in, it was filled. "I love toys, man... I'd end up buying the whole place."

Rucker, who hails from South Carolina, was on a special mission for Lindenhurst. The village, slammed by Hurricane Sandy less than two months ago, won a contest through Eventful.com the country singer held to have Rucker to to area children, in conjunction with Toys for Tots and the U.S. Marines.

A new cart in his grasp, Rucker clearly stated his next target: "We need to find some girls' toys. Can't forget about those." Upon arrival, he quickly found the Barbies he was looking for and put his many selected dolls into the cart.

Passing by some tote bags featuring the likeness of U.K. pop-group One Direction, a fan opined Rucker's thoughts on the boy band.

"Hey, I like them," he said, smiling and posing with one of the bags with a grin. "One Direction is hot!"

Rucker even made sure to stop for every kid's favorite personal form of transportation – bicycles and scooters. Upon grabbing a lime green BMX-style bike, he cracked, "I am going to make some mother very upset with this one!" He laughed a bit and added it to the growing caravan of carts.

When it was all said and done, Rucker had easily amassed more than 10 carts full of toys and headed to the registers. 20 minutes and tons of scanning later, Rucker's bill went over his initial $10,000 pledge. He shrugged and continued the massive purchase, paying the difference, roughly $4,000, out of his own pocket.

"When we started this, Sandy hadn't hit or anything and we didn't know which city it would be," Rucker said. "It was great watching all the people from all over the country vote for Lindenhurst because it was hit so hard by Sandy."

The final total produced a comically long receipt and an equally, and ironically, short gift receipt.

"All of this," he said, motioning to the toys purchased. "And all I get is this?" He said, laughing with the tiny piece of paper in his hand.

Afterwards, Rucker helped the Marines load a delivery truck with all of his purchases, packing it to the brim and almost running out of room.

"Today was a great day," Rucker said. "It's just great to be able to do something like this, come here and buy all of the toys... I'm proud to be a part of it."

The toys, now being prepared for the children in Lindenhurst, are expected to distributed through the Toys for Tots program with the help of the Marines, Lindenhurst Fire Department and Lindenhurst School District.

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• 'Wonder Years' Dad Has Lindy in His Thoughts
• Darius Rucker Brings Holiday Cheer to Lindenhurst
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• Photos: Heidi Klum at Lindy Village Tree Lighting

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