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Date: 12/14/2022
WESTFIELD – The Westfield Police Youth Cadets collected a record number of toys to give out to underprivileged youth in Westfield on Dec. 10 in the eighth annual Police Cadet Toy Drive.
Police and the youth cadets stood in the cold outside Walmart, Dollar General and Five Below in Westfield, collecting donations of toys mostly purchased inside those stores.
Detective Chris Coach, who leads the cadet program, said that this year’s drive may have set a record both for the number of donations received and for the number of kids that will receive them. On Dec. 12, Coach reported that they received enough toys to give 314 children five toys each, with some extras to spare.
“We had 314 kids in Westfield schools who we were able to give five gifts each, plus some extras we are giving to the Salvation Army,” said Coach.
Shoppers entering the select stores Saturday were asked by cadets standing at the entrances to bring in a list of toys broken down by gender and age group. Just outside at Walmart, police cars sat with their lights on while countless store carriages were still filled with Nerf guns, small playsets, baby supplies, Hot Wheels and other toys as police and the youth cadets scrambled to organize them and fill police cars to send them elsewhere.
Coach said that the toys will be brought to each of Westfield’s schools, where they will be distributed accordingly.