Mary Mueller brought her brother City Councilman Vince Hernandez and her fellow Tupperware dealers to the Marine Corps Recruiting Center on North Main Street this week with their own special “Toys for Tots.”

Marines Charles Perkins, Felix Rafael and SSgt. Jim Sanders welcomed them at the front door, showing their appreciation for the children’s gifts that will go to youngsters in need.

Councilman Hernandez said he was involved with the Toys for Tots drive to support his sister Mary. 

“My sister came up with the idea” to give to the toy collection program through her business, he said. 

Mueller interjected, “We support each other.  As a team we decided within our team to give the Shape ‘O Balls – the first-ever Tupperware toy created 65 years ago.  It teaches children the primary shapes and the primary colors.  It’s made for children from six months to six years old,” she said. 

Muller added that it’s important to help the other ladies in support of their businesses and to recognize patriotism and giving back.

“I train them and support them,” she said, “but I don’t take credit for their successes or for their failures.  It’s not only them, as I work with a team of 300 people.”

She has been close to the military with her dad Vincent C. Hernandez having been a member of the Marine Corps Reserve serving in the Korean War.  In 1960 her brother Mack was in the Vietnam conflict, also as a Marine, and later suffered from post traumatic syndrome (PST) afterwards. 

Mary Mueller has been selling products since she was 19.  She added that she loves giving back and working with stay-at-home moms, teaching ethics and business sense to the independent Tupperware dealers.

She noted that she and her Tupperware dealers have their own party and training center.  It is there for people who want to hold sales parties but would rather not have them in their homes.  She noted that there are over 300,000 dealers around the world selling tons of products.

The Manteca group was number one throughout the U.S. and Canada in recruiting and in team development, she said.