More than 1,500 children attending organizations in Montreal’s Center Sud neighborhood will receive toys as Christmas presents thanks to a massive collection from police officers on their neighborhood watch.
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“It’s a record year!” says Officer Stéphanie De Lan, looking at the piles of toys around her in a room next to her police station on Papineau Street.
In recent weeks, most Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) facilities have set up collection boxes for used toys or books. Most donations come from police officers themselves, many with small children.
These hundreds of gifts were collected at the initiative of agents from Neighborhood Station 22 in the Ville-Marie district, who set up a collection for needy children in their area 13 years ago.
Volunteers, most of them police officers, their relatives and even their children, then work to clean, inspect and sort the received toys for redistribution to a dozen organizations.
“Sometimes we would stay until midnight sorting out puzzles,” says Agent Camille Dubois, who has been involved in the initiative since she arrived at the SPVM three years ago.
Mario Beauregard / QMI Agency
Organizations submit lists of children’s ages and genders to receive toys that meet their needs.
“We always add a little more so that they have the leeway to adapt the gifts to the child. Just because you’re a little three-year-old doesn’t necessarily mean you like playing with trucks,” explains Officer De Lan.
High demand
If SPVM volunteers have received more and more toys over the years, demand has also increased significantly since the pandemic.
“Organizations often ask us if we have surpluses,” says socio-community agent Geneviève Noël, the initiator of the project.
Geneviève Noël started the gift collecting project with a colleague 13 years ago. Mario Beauregard / QMI Agency
New locations are added each year based on the most pressing needs. Last year, for example, dozens of toys were donated to the Ukrainian community. This year the gifts are intended for children who are taking French courses or whose parents are still in high school.
At the same time, more than 1,000 books will be donated to local elementary schools.
The gifts will be distributed to the various organizations next Tuesday. However, the volunteers will not be present when the children open their presents in the following days.
“I think it’s okay that we don’t go there. They are children and I want them to remember that it comes from Santa Claus!” says Stéphanie De Lan, laughing.