Photo By Staff Sgt. Erick Yates | Spc. Joseph Dascoli, a supply specialist with the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion...... read more read more
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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. – Four days before Christmas, Soldiers and family members of the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion, out of Riverdale Park, Maryland, volunteered to work as Santa’s helpers during the Toys for Tots distribution at Prince George’s County District III Police Headquarters. The line started to form at 11:30 pm the night before when the first families arrived eight hours prior to the toy distribution’s start time. By 7 a.m. the next morning, the line of waiting families wrapped around the block.
According to Lt. Brendan Devaney, commander of the Community Services Division for the Prince George’s County Police Department, families pre-register prior to the toy distribution. More than 15,000 families are pre-screened through the Toys for Tots database to confirm PG County residence. The family’s registration is reviewed by a volunteer and the children’s names are sorted for age appropriate gifts. Afterwards a second volunteer fills a bag with toys. A third volunteer then makes a final quality control check to ensure suitable gifts for the recipients.
“Normally in previous years, by noon the line is under control,” said Devaney. “Last year the last person didn’t make it through the line until 9 o’clock at night.”
Long before the first child lined up to get their Christmas gifts, airborne Soldiers lined up to donate toys and participate in a special holiday tradition. Between Dec. 5 and 6, 51 Maryland Soldiers from the 450th, Maryland Army National Guard, and the 55th Signal Company Combat Camera flew to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and joined the 17th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Toy Drop, the largest joint airborne operation in the world. An airborne jump with an allied nation during this operation makes Soldiers eligible for the award of foreign jump wings, a coveted prize among paratroopers. Initially, everything went as planned. The Soldiers boarded the plane, trained by their Polish jumpmasters, rigged and ready to jump, but high winds prevented Soldiers from jumping.
Though unable to earn Polish jump wings, the Soldiers weathered their disappointment well by focusing on the kids. They collected over 150 toys, including 25 bikes. Master Sgt. Ryan L. Watson, operations sergeant for the 450th, contacted Ms. Dawn Stem, U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots coordinator for Prince George’s County, to participate in the toy distribution.
“This is the third year that the 450th has participated in Toys for Tots,” said Watson. “We coordinated with Dawn [Stem] last year and again this year to bring the toys here and then distribute them after we collected them.”
“We greatly appreciate your partnership,” said Stem. “We don’t have a lot of man-power, so having a group like yours come over is invaluable.”
The morning of the District III toy distribution, Toys for Tots spent the preceding 48 hours providing toys to Baltimore, D.C. and Anne Arundel County. Surplus toys from these previous events supported the District III toy distribution. There were five trucks outside that need to be unloaded.
“Toys for Tots supported over 25,000 kids between Anne Arundel and Prince George’s County,” said Stem. “Across the country, 15 million donated toys were distributed.”
The 450th joined three shifts of volunteers, including more than 700 county law enforcement officers, community volunteers and Explorers, for the Toys for Tots distribution at PG County District III.
The day’s agenda also included VIP visits from the county executive, the fire chief and Santa Claus.
Spc. Joseph Dascoli, 450th Delta Company supply specialist, and his fiancée, Jennifer Lucia, could not pass up the opportunity to hand out toys to kids. This was Dascoli’s second year participating in the Randy Oler Memorial Toy Drop, and this year, he donated a couple of toys for girls ages 5 to 8.
“I brought some 'Frozen' items,” Dascoli said while Jennifer Lucia smiled. “You can’t go wrong with 'Frozen.'”
The piles of toys were separated by age and gender. Plush animals, backpacks, princess dresses, bikes with helmets, super hero action figures, books, board games and sporting equipment were available.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Jennifer Lucia. “There are so many wonderful toys donated by so many people.”
Cpl. Richard Kashe, PG County Police Department Community Services Division, wandered through the piles of toys encouraging volunteers as they filled bags according to an assigned child’s age and gender.
Looked at this pile of arts and craft toys said Kashe. “Let’s move some crafts!” he said.
Volunteers from the Law Enforcement Exploring program and the Explorer Club continued to busily fill bags. Cpl. Conrad D’Haiti, PG County Police Department Law Enforcement Exploring coordinator, explained that the Toys for Tots distribution is just one example of the 10,000 hours of community service that Explorers completed during 2014. In addition to Toys for Tots, Explorers participate in events such as Redskins games, child finger printing, community safety walks, information exchanges and Christmas in April.
Michelle Malloy-Friend, 11, a new Explorer with hopes of one day becoming a police officer herself, was happy to help kids get toys for Christmas.
“I pick out toys that I think the kids will like,” said Malloy-Friend. “My favorite toy today is the Cross-Bow Nerf Gun.”
During the holiday season many units find themselves participating in community events such as parades, sporting events, or toy distributions. As ambassadors for the U.S. Army Reserve, 450th Soldiers worked with law enforcement and community volunteers to collect and distribute toys to kids in Prince George’s County. While the possibility of earning foreign jump wings may have been one of the original incentives for the unit, the end result was a community that came together to celebrate the joy of giving. The 450th planned their Toys for Tots participation with the same professionalism and dedication used when completing overseas missions. For some local children, this Christmas is a little brighter because of the U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers in their community.
| Date Taken: | 12.21.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2014 22:10 |
| Story ID: | 150969 |
| Location: | LANDOVER, MD, US |
| Hometown: | RIVERDALE PARK, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 85 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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