First round of ’12 Kids of Christmas’ gifts distributed at Brightside Academy
More distributions are planned for the future.
TOLEDO, Ohio — Saturday, some of the gifts that volunteers and Toledo Police officers shopped for last weekend were distributed those in our community who would’ve went without a nice gift this holiday season.
Toledo Police officer Taylor Dungjen says that before kids recieved their gift/s, they weren’t even aware they were getting a gift in the first place. The kids were tricked into believing that the reason they were at Brightside Academy was to eat snacks and take pictures, when in reality, they were on the receiving end of an event that’s the product of a gracious community with a lot of heart.
Officer Dungjen says that this year’s edition of the event was smaller, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dungjen adds that volunteers and organizers wanted to “play it safe”, while still serving those most at need in the community.
“Officers work really hard every single year just going call to call to call and we do our best to have positive community relationships and interactions. But this is really like, at least like for a lot of us, our favorite day of the year.”
More gift distributions are planned for the future.
