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Date: 12/3/2021
BELCHERTOWN – With the holidays approaching, the Belchertown Police Department will host its annual Stuff a Cruiser toy drive on Dec. 4.
Belchertown Police Administrative Assistant to the Chief and Communications Director David Squires said the event requires collaboration between the department, schools and the community, with Detective Robert Mann leading the way.
“I believe we are going on five, if not six years. Detective Rob Mann is the one that is heavily involved in it and then we have a secret elf who has a collaboration with the schools, and she networks together to see particular students that might be in need and then they come up with a list to determine what is needed,” he said.
As part of his work on the drive, Squires said he reaches out to the churches in town to find a home for the donations on top of the school lists.
“We network with all the area churches in Belchertown because they have all types of things they do individually. One of the churches has a giving tree so they might put a stocking on a tree after they stop by here and go through their shopping list for the members of their church, so we have a good rapport with the churches in town,” he said.
Squires said the department is accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys for children between the ages of 6 and 14.
“We are looking for things like LEGOs, board games, arts and crafts, baseballs, soccer balls, footballs – those always go over well – sleds, educational toys, as well as hats, mittens and gloves,” he said.
In prior years, Squires said residents have also donated larger items, including bicycles.
Squires said COVID-19 limited the scale of the toy drive.
“We have had to scale it back a bit because of COVID [-19], when it started it was a two-day event and then we had it where people were coming into the station to drop off the items. Now it is outside, and between detective Mann and Officer Adam Brougham, those two get together and stuff the cruisers out front. If they become too stuffed, they migrate the items into our community room,” he said.
Residents dropping off toys will also be required to wear masks and social distance.
With the toy drive, Squires said it allows the community to see the department differently.
“The day of the toy drive the chief is around if time allows so it is kind of like a department thing where everyone gets together. It gives a different insight into the Police Department, people get to meet the officers up close in person and know they are actually a person,” he said.
Squires added the toy drive is one way the department follows Chief Christopher Pronovost’s goal to get more involved in the community.
“Since he has been here, Chief Pronovost has been a strong proponent of community policing and community interaction. With COVID [-19] it has scaled things back a bit, we do a citizen’s police academy, a youth academy in the summertime and we do a night out thing, but they have all been put to the side. This is a way to interact with the community in a positive way,” he said.
“The community has been very, very generous and supportive in the past and we have done very well to help the different cause,” he added.
The Belchertown Police Department’s Stuff a Cruiser toy drive runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the station, located at 70 State St.