LOWELL — Superintendent Raymond Kelly Richardson is pleased to share that the Lowell Police Department and generous community partners gathered over 1,000 toys and gifts for children as part of the department’s sixth-annual Holiday Toy Drive.
Thanks to extremely generous donations from Lowell Police Department employees, individual donors and community partners at the MassHire Lowell Career Center, Lowell Regional Transit Authority ATU Local 1578, the Lowell High School Hockey Team, Heather’s Hair Design, Middlesex Community College, the Friends of Tyler Park, Ultimate Kronos Group, and the Lowell Housing Authority’s JobsPLUS program, the annual Holiday Toy Drive filled the largest room inside the police station as gifts were sorted for distribution.
New, unused and unwrapped toys and gifts donated by individual donors and community partners include clothing, makeup, action figures, gift cards, books, coloring books, dinosaurs, craft supplies, dolls, stuffed animals, puzzles, board games, fidget toys, sports equipment, bicycles and more.
The toys and gifts will be distributed directly to Lowell children in need by Lowell Public Schools social workers; House of Hope, a shelter for families; and Brigid’s Crossing, a shelter for teenage mothers in Lowell.
“I’d like to thank all of our donors and community partners for their generosity,” said Superintendent Richardson. “We received so many great toys this year. We’re grateful to our community for coming together like this. Every child deserves to be happy during the holidays, and the City of Lowell stepped up to help us support those most in need this season.”
Toys and gifts were collected via kiosks at the police station and via donations from community partners. As donations poured in, the Emergency Operations Center inside the Lowell Police Department doubled as Santa’s workshop, in part because it is the only room in the police station large enough to facilitate sorting all the gifts.
For more information on House of Hope, click here.
For more information on Brigid’s Crossing, click here, or email Monica Melo at: monica_melo@ccab.org.
Members of Lowell Regional Transit Authority ATU Local 1578 stand with Lowell Police officers as they donate toys to the Lowell Police Department’s sixth-annual Holiday Toy Drive last week. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department) 
A few of the toys, puzzles and other gifts donated to the Lowell Police Department’s sixth-annual Holiday Toy Drive are ready for sorting in the Emergency Operations Center last week. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department) 
An assortment of gifts, board games, toys and other items donated as part of the Lowell Police Department’s sixth-annual Holiday Toy Drive. This collection of toys in the Emergency Operations Center does not include large donations provided by the Lowell High School Hockey Team, the Lowell Regional Transit Authority ATU Local 1578 or Heather’s Hair Design. Police believe more than 1,000 toys and gifts were donated in all. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department) 
Bicycles and helmets donated by Ultimate Kronos Group stand next to a wall in the Emergency Operations Center. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department) 
A few of the toys, stuffed animals and dolls donated to the Lowell Police Department’s sixth-annual Holiday Toy Drive. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department) The Emergency Operations Center inside the Lowell Police Department’s headquarters on Arcand Drive doubled as Santa’s workshop this month as the police department collected over 1,000 toys for local families with support from generous community partners. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department)