NAHANT — Both the Police and Fire Departments are getting ready for another round of the annual toy drives for kids in order to kick off the holiday season.
On the Police Department’s side, it’s gearing up to start collecting donations for its Stuff A Cruiser event, which will span from Nov. 29 to Dec. 15. The department is requesting that unwrapped gifts are left at the station, located at 198 Nahant Road.
The donations from the police department’s toy drive will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club in Lynn. The Marine Corps League Detachment 1302 will collect toys donated to the fire department.
Police Chief Timothy Furlong noted that it’s the fourth year that the department has hosted the toy drive.
“It’s just an incredible event, and it grows each year. It got to the point where we had to put the Humvee outside the station… We had to keep emptying out the cruiser from donations that people left, so with the Humvee, people could literally just walk inside it and leave the gifts they’ve donated,” Furlong said.
He added that the department sees swaths of people swing by to deliver toys for children and families in need each year.
“The response in previous years has been huge. People will go out and shop on Black Friday and then stop here at the station to dump a bunch of brand new toys,” Furlong said. “It’s important to teach kids to give back and to help out those who don’t have as much… It’s just very heartwarming.”
The Fire Department is also hosting a toy drive, where community members can pitch in to the cause by dropping off new, unwrapped toys at the station, located at 67 Flash Road.
Firefighter and Union President Nick Papagelis explained that the toy drive has become an annual staple for the department.
He said the residents in town have been very generous in previous years.
“We’ve had several groups, like the Nahant Women’s Club and the Knights of Columbus, bring toys and drop them off for us… We usually do two or three rounds of pickups because it’s overflowing with toys,” Papagelis said.
He continued, “We’re here to help, and anything we can do to help families that might be less-fortunate than others means a lot to us.”
Fire Chief Austin Antrim said that the department is very appreciative of the generosity from the community.
