More than 1,000 toys contributed by residents, businesses and charities

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Members of the Bloomfield Police Department made the holidays special for more than 300 Bloomfield children from 144 families at this year’s annual toy drive. Each child was given a bag of new toys and gifts at the Bloomfield Municipal Courtroom on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 17. Their families were also given ShopRite cards, while families with older children were given Target and Visa Cards. Funds for the credit cards were donated by the community, especially the United Way of Bloomfield.

The toys were purchased with funds and donated by local businesses, schools, residents and charitable organizations. Sponsors included the Bloomfield Youth Aid Foundation, Hot Bagels Abroad, ECRB Towing, LeRoy Jones, the Bloomfield Mayor and Township Council, the Fischman Family, Clark Ave. Crew, the Tice Family, Brookdale School, Lummus Technology, the Accent Group, the Bloomfield Cruisers, Levandoski-Grillo Funeral Home and Universal Technical Institute.

“We in Bloomfield take the season of giving very seriously, with all township departments working to improve the holidays for our residents,” said Mayor Michael Venezia in a recent press release.

“Our residents and our incredible Police Department have made sure that each family always has new toys for the holidays and I am so proud to live in a community that gives back.

“I would like to thank Director DeMaio for his leadership and Captain George Ricci in particular for his outstanding work organizing this event, as well as other community outreach programs year-round.”

There was an appearance at the event by Santa Clause, aka Bloomfield resident Steve Tice, who began a tradition of dressing as Santa and providing hot chocolate and cookies to neighborhood children at his Bolten Place home. In recent years, his family has led neighborhood gift-collection drives.

“Having a strong relationship with our community is a top priority of our police department, and our staff genuinely cares about this community, which is why we look forward to helping those in need every year,” said DeMaio.

“Our re-emphasis on community policing in recent years has resulted in consistently decreasing crime rates. Through events like our annual Toy Drive, our residents get to know our officers in friendly settings.

“I would like to thank Capt. Ricci for putting together this event, Lt. Naomi Zepeda and all of our Youth Aid and Community Police officers for keeping this Bloomfield Police tradition alive.

“Also, thank you to all of the local businesses and individuals who donated gifts to make this possible.”
The Youth Aid Division, which has organized and administered the Holiday Toy Drive annually for more than 20 years, monitors safety at Bloomfield schools and throughout the community.

Bloomfield officers assigned to Bloomfield High and Middle schools — school resource officers — work hand-in-hand with school administrators to aid students whenever the need arises.