It's not your typical drive. It's an annual holiday tradition.
It's a time for Rumsonites to gather and give. It's the Rumson Department of Public Works Toy Drive.
It starts this afternoon and carries on through Saturday afternoon with mission to collect 1,100 toys this year to make the holidays brighter for kids in need.
Organizers are hoping the drive's 14th kick-off tonight on Friday the 13th will be a lucky one as they start taking in toys and celebrating the season from 3:30 to 7 p.m. at the DPW garage in back of Rumson Borough Hall on East River Road.
There, neighbors will gather in the spirit of giving, donate and socialize with some hot chocolate, coffee and candy canes. The drive opens again on Saturday morning at 9 a.m., and collections continue until 1 p.m.
"The last two years we have collected about 1,000 toys each year!" said Larry D'Angelo, assistant DPW foreman who is a drive organizer. "Our goal this year is 1,100 toys!"
The toys go to two organizations dedicated to helping children in need: Family and Children's services,Long Branch; and the Salvation Army of Red Bank. The organizations pick up the donations from the DPW yard.
While the drive organizers "haven’t had the pleasure of distributing the toys to the kids ourselves," D'Angelo said that "when families drop off the toys to us and we explain to the young children what a wonderful thing they are doing to help out children in need, you can see the satisfaction on their faces of the great deed they are doing."
This year, D'Angelo said, there's more of a need than ever, considering the flailing economy and ongoing Hurricane Sandy recovery in the area.
D'Angelo wanted to call attention to the fact that the toy drive is a group effort put forth by all DPW employees, full- and part-time, and the community.
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