Barbies and Biebers
Police donations round out toy drive

By COURTNEY LAMDIN | Staff Writer
courtney@miltonindependent.com

Donations were down for Milton Family Community Center’s annual toy drive, but the local police department swept in for the second year in a row to make sure kids in need will have a toy under the tree.

The Milton Police Department bought 30 gifts for just under $300 and gave them to Milton’s Toys for Kids program just in time.

“It was just sad there were so few toys,” said Charlotte Parot, the center’s family services coordinator. “People are struggling that are normally donating more, and people are being really careful of their own funds.”

Parot, who organizes the holiday program, said the week before the toys were distributed, some of the 255 kids signed up wouldn’t get a gift.

So Det. Cpl. Paul Locke organized a shopping trip with four other officers who picked up games, toy trucks, soccer balls, action figures, a bowling ball set and other gifts. Officers delivered the bags of gifts to the former Hollywood Video store, which was donated for storage, on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

“You should have seen five guys going shopping at Toys R Us looking for Barbies,” Locke told Parot. “It was hilarious.”

On a more serious note, Locke said police wanted to give back to the community they serve. He noted that in their work, officers see many kids do without whether it’s because a parent lost a job or got involved in drugs or other crime.

“It’s not the child’s fault this has occurred, and we are trying to make sure a child knows this,” he wrote in an email follow-up.

The family center partnered with four local churches, which distributed wish lists to donors. Red barrels were placed around town in several drop-off locations. The toys were distributed on Saturday, Dec. 17 at the United Church on Main Street along with clothing and food.

Twenty-five fewer families signed up this year than last year, Parot said, but the center still sees a great need in the community.

“The people that have given have just been tremendously generous,” Parot said. “They’ve come forward, and as soon as they knew that some child might not get a gift, they really went out.”

Milton police were happy to help. Locke suggested next year the department keep a Toys for Kids barrel at the station and start the collection earlier.

For Parot and many kids in Milton this Christmas, the gifts came, and that’s all that matters.

“We’re just really grateful to the police,” she said. “They kind of saved the day, saved the year this year.”