Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
In between official duties this week, Aurora firemen also will be lending Santa a hand making deliveries of Christmas toys to about 125 families in Aurora.
“We used to put the presents in the back of a pickup truck and go house to house,” Aurora Fire Department Capt. Dan Osman said.
Today, fire trucks are used to deliver the presents, something that is an extra treat for the 400 children receiving gifts.
The Aurora Fire Department first began collecting toys for families in Aurora about 20 years ago, Osman, who is heading up this year’s toy drive along with Battalion Chief Mark Robinson, said.
After Fire Department Union Local 99 purchased Thanksgiving side dishes to accompany turkeys that a local company was distributing to families, local firemen decided to continue the goodwill into the Christmas season by starting a toy drive.
Over the last several weeks, community members have dropped off new and unwrapped toys at one of the nine Aurora Fire Department stations. When families come into a fire station to drop off their donated toys, he said the firemen offer to show families around the station including the fire trucks.
This year, Lt. Jim Rhodes said, “thousands of presents” have accumulated at the nine Aurora fire stations. Each child on the distribution list which is obtained from local schools will receive four to five gifts.
Different groups — either individual families or community groups — wrap the presents. Through a coordinated effort, the presents are distributed to the different fire stations where firefighters in turn deliver the gifts for the children who live within their boundaries.
It’s a great community effort, Rhodes said. “Without the donations from the community, this program wouldn’t work,” he said.
“Seeing the kids’ faces light up brings extra joy to everybody,” he said.
In addition to delivering toys, once again the Aurora Fire Department lent its time as volunteer bell ringers for the Salvation Army. On one day in early December, the Aurora Fire Department collected $1,507. Aurora Fireman Michael Hess, who has organized the Aurora Fire Department’s participation since 2006, said it is always an honor for families to request photos of their children with the firemen when they drop money into the kettle.
thanks Dan
