With Christmas less than three weeks away, two area organizations are asking residents to help ensure that no child in Westfield or Southwick goes without a present under the tree on Christmas morning.
“In this season of giving, it’s important to remember the children in our community who, without the support of their neighbors, might otherwise go without,” said Police Detective Christopher Coach, an overseer of the Westfield Police Cadet Program with Police Detective Richard Mazza.
On Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the cadets will be accepting donations of toys and monetary donations in front of Walmart on Springfield Road, at the Five Below at 267 E. Main St., in Westgate Plaza, and PLAYNOW! Toy Store at 5 E. Silver St., next to the Big Y.
This is the 12th year the toy drive has been organized by the cadets, which began when Coach’s wife, who was the president of the PTO at the former Juniper Park Elementary School, told him the organization wanted to provide gifts to children of struggling parents. At the time, though, he didn’t have quite enough money to go around.
He said that after the first year, it was clear there was a need to help families provide gifts for their children.
Coach and Mazza came up with the idea of having the cadets organize a toy drive.
“Ever since then, the cadets have been helping out the public schools, and every year the need increases,” Coach said.
To ensure the right toy gets in the hands of the right child on Christmas morning, the schools provide the cadets with a list of what the children need.
Using that list, the cadets develop their own list of the toys, using the public’s help.
In the past, there have been specific requests broken out into age groups.
Coach said this year, they are asking for donations for boys and girls between the ages of three and 13.
For toddlers, the cadets suggest jack-in-the-boxes, rubber ducks, stuffed animals, Disney-themed toys and Hot Wheels.
For kids, they’re looking for Crayola products, Legos, 3D puzzles, My Little Pony-themed toys, WWE action figures, Playdough, sports equipment and Matchbox cars.
The cadets are suggesting radio-controlled cars, deodorant, cologne, earbuds/headphones, Nerf guns and sports equipment for the boys.
For girls, they need donations of perfume or hair accessories, makeup, lip gloss, charm bracelets, nail art, baking sets, lotions, hair products and slippers.
The cadets will also accept donations of money, Coach said.
Realizing that the donations of unwrapped new gifts might not match the list of the items needed, Coach said the cadets use “every penny” given to purchase what wasn’t donated.
Last year, Coach said the cadets spent nearly $3,000 to fill out the gift list.
Donations can also be dropped off at the police station on Washington Street, no later than 7 p.m., Sunday.
The week before Christmas, the gifts will be delivered to Westfield Middle School, Munger Hill Elementary School, Southampton Road Elementary School, Westfield River Elementary School, Westfield Intermediate School and Westfield High School
In Southwick, the Southwick Civic Fund is having its ninth annual Secret Santa and the Angry Elf Toy Drive, which provides toys to children in town, Granville and Tolland whose families need a little help.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” said Southwick Civic Fund President Joseph Deedy when asked why the nonprofit continues the toy drive year after year.
“We can all sit home and do nothing, and that’s okay, but that’s not the road we take. We take care of our neighbors,” he said.
He said his family helped the West Springfield Parks and Recreation Department with its Operation Santa for several years before beginning the toy drive to Southwick in 2014.
The SCF provides toys for babies and children up to 15 years old, and it needs the public’s help to make sure the children of the families who apply will have a great Christmas morning opening presents.
The civic fund is accepting new unwrapped toys, $15 Walmart gift cards, wrapping paper, and tape, Deedy said.
The toys can be dropped off at Scibelli’s Mobile on College Highway, the Fire Department on Depot Street, and Deedy’s family’s business, Moo-licious, at 258 Feeding Hills Road.
One Southwick business has already started donating to the effort.
Deedy said Hampton County Oral Surgery PLLC, located at 664 College Highway, dropped off three truckloads of toys on Wednesday, and they haven’t finished.
“It’s so great to have businesses like these who can help at this time of year. We can’t thank them enough,” he said.
Deedy also said the Secret Santa and Angry Elf Toy Drive is a year-round effort.
“We’ll take donations whenever,” he said, adding that since the nonprofit acquired the property of the former Methodist church at 222 College Highway – where donations can also be dropped off – there is storage space.
For families looking for help, Deedy said the application is “really simple,” and there is no minimum income requirement.
All that is needed is a photo of a child’s birth certificate, a photo of a parent’s ID and proof of address.
