Firefighters from Local 11 of the Bayonne Fire Department decided this was a good year to help collect toys for Bayonne kids. With the economy poor and people out of work or short on resources, these firefighters decided that Santa needed a little extra help this year.
So on Dec. 18, four firehouses collected donations. They were piled up in the Fire Museum on 47th Street for eventual delivery to the Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation and distribution to local kids.
The BEOF has an agreement with local schools, food pantries, and other groups that helps gifts reach needy children.
“We were actually collecting toys for two weeks prior to Dec. 18,” said Peter Bonner, president of Local 11.
“We have a lot of requests this year, more than in the past.” — Eleanor Tiefenwerth
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“We’re already giving away toys,” said Eleanor Tiefenwerth, BEOF executive director. “But we have a lot of requests this year, more than in the past.”
Paul Avery, fire department battalion chief, and Firefighter Don Haiber helped increase the Christmas cheer as they redecorated the museum with holiday lights, with toys mounted in front of two holiday trees.
The museum is undergoing renovation, but contains hundreds of artifacts from Bayonne’s historic past. Surrounded by historic fire equipment decked in Christmas lights, the Fire Museum looked a little like a scene out of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” especially the illuminated horse-drawn fire vehicle that would have been an active part of fire suppression in the 19th century.
“We wanted to get involved directly with the community,” Bonner said.
Tiefenwerth, who will be retiring from the BEOF in February, said she was impressed with the number of gifts, and they will find a place in the hands of kids who need them.
“With so many lost jobs and cut backs on salaries and even sicknesses in families, there are a lot more children to serve this year,” she said.
Chipping in
Ted Wolf, vice president of Local 11, said that everybody chipped in to make sure this was a successful drive.
Dave Korzun, the state delegate for Local 11, was one of the early organizers of the drive.
“There are a lot of kids who might be suffering in this economy,” he said. “We just wanted to make sure they got something for Christmas. We wanted to do something good and we wanted these gifts to go to kids in town.”
Bonner said that although a number of firefighters helped organize the drive, this was a community effort.
“People came out to donate, and that’s what we wanted,” he said.