Toy Drive This Weekend for UCPD Santa Program

UNION CITY, CA - Patrol cars will be parked in front of the Union City Walmart this weekend, Dec. 12 - 13, from noon to 9:00 p.m. Uniformed officers and explorers will be accepting new, unwrapped toys for children of all ages. The toys will be distributed to needy children in Union City.

Last year’s drive collected over three thousand toys, and UCPD is hoping to surpass that number this year.

The toy drive benefits UCPD’s annual “Santa’s Sleigh Comes Early” event where Santa’s Sleigh, which looks suspiciously like a decorated patrol car, delivers toys to families at their homes in Union City.

Centro de Servicios provides UCPD with a list of at least 20 underprivileged families along with the children’s ages so each child will receive age-appropriate toys.

Police officers also keep some additional toys with them so that they have something for other children who may approach them while they are delivering toys to the areas.

The “Santa’s Sleigh Comes Early” event started in 2007, and originally only handed out Teddy Bears to children. The program expanded when a Bay Area car club, the Bay Bombers, heard about the program and held a toy drive. They donated the toys to the “Santa’s Sleigh Comes Early” program, and every year since then, Santa’s helpers have collected, sorted, and wrapped a variety of toys so that each child receives something special.

This year, Santa’s Sleigh is expanding to reach more families on the east and west sides of the city. Santa’s Sleigh will be delivering toys before Christmas to deserving families in the community.

UCPD’s own Sergeant Steve Mendez will be filling the role of Santa this year.