After weeks of collecting presents large and small, officers from all of the participating departments -- better known as the SRT ("Santa Response Team") -- will truck them to the Closter firehouse on Dec. 20.
Officers there will sort them according to age and sex.
Many are then packed into a bus and a UHaul and taken to the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, where they’ll be delivered by – who else? – Santa Claus.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY
Closter P.O. Don Nicoletti
Reality TV star Johnny Meatballs will be at the firehouse, serving up heroes for the heroes.
Organizers are hoping other celebrities and popular sports athletes will show up, as in the past, to cheer up the youngsters. New York Yankees pitching ace CC Sabathia was a huge hit last year.
The military will come up from the Teaneck Armory to collect presents for families of soldiers overseas. Last year, 150 families received gifts.
Toys also will be delivered to the West Side Infant & Teen Center, New Hope in Westwood, the Northern New Jersey Cerebral Palsy Center and Bergen County Head Start.
Some families sponsor other families -- say, a family is displaced by a fire or flood or someone got sick or lost a job. Police produce a list, and a generous family buys all the presents for their needy counterparts.
Another family, this one in Closter, had two children with a rare immune disorder. The officers give to the family every year.
"The Iron Horse has a group of special needs people that they had decorate boxes last year and they loved doing it," said Westwood Police Officer Jim Quaglino.
Nicoletti and his department’s PBA launched the program more than 20 years ago. It originally targeted impoverished areas, but the poor economy has created a greater need in the valleys, as well.
The number of participating departments also has swelled to two dozen.
"What makes it so successful is that it never comes back to one town," Nicoletti said. "It has grown because of the help of so many men and women who contribute to it."
And where once it was all toys and board games, electronics have become more popular.
The organizers are asking everyone who can to drop off an unwrapped present or more at any of the police departments listed below or to participating local stores and high schools. Boxes with flyers have been placed in dozens of locations.
"All you have to do is drop off a toy sometime before Dec. 20,” said Justin Krapels, the Northern Valley High School wrestling coach. “We hope to make this toy drive even more successful this year."
"Although they are closed for fire repairs, the Iron Horse is still going to be a major part of our town's contribution."
Westwood police are putting out boxes at headquarters, as well as at Westwood Health and Fitness, Starbucks. the N.Y. Sports Club and Flynn's Deli, among other spots, Quaglino said.
"It really makes the holidays feel right," he said.
It's not just about Christmas, either. What most people don't know: Other toys go into reserve to be distributed to Tomorrow's Children kids who come into the hospital throughout the year.
PARTICIPATING POLICE DEPARTMENTS
Alpine
Closter
Cresskill
Demarest
Dumont
Emerson
Englewood
Franklin Lakes
Garfield
Harrington Park
Haworth
Mahwah
Northvale
Norwood
Old Tappan
Oradell
Paramus
Park Ridge
River Vale
Rochelle Park
Tenafly
Washington Township
Westwood
Woodcliff Lake
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