NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Flashing lights and Christmas music accompanied Santa Claus as he greeted families arriving for gifts at the Armory on Saturday. 

 

The annual Emergency Services Toy Drive was donating gifts for 151 children this holiday season. 

 

MaryAnn King, one of the organizers, said there was concern in the beginning that volunteer effort wouldn't be able to collect enough gifts. Normally, personnel from the city's Police and Fire departments and Northern Berkshire EMS park at Walmart with a few emergency vehicles to collect new, unwrapped toys. 

 

That couldn't really happen with the pandemic. King said they came up with the idea of putting out big boxes and advertising where the toys could be dropped off. All the emergency departments participated along with City Hall, the schools and library, and a number of local businesses, like Village Pizza. 

 

"I was like, in the beginning, just give us 100 names. But the toys started coming in," King said. "So I said, let's do our normal number. So we figure by the end of the drive, we'll have hit a little better than 250 children and the families, with all the stuff we did the past few days."

 

Volunteers had spent hours wrapping more than 300 toys for Saturday's pickup. Each child got two toys and the toys were categorized by age and gender. Vehicles pulled up to the back of the Armory where all the toys were stored, gave their name and age and gender of children, and first-responders delivered the wrapped packages. 

 

In other years, there would have been a party of some type and popcorn, games or a movie. But with COVID-19, gatherings like that couldn't happen. 

 

Saturday's event was going smoothly with piles of toys ready to give out. The first-responders worked with Aleta Moncecchi, deputy director of Berkshire Community Action Council, to sign up children. 

 

King said they decided early on that they would do something for the kids — the pandemic wasn't going to stop them. But it was figuring out what to do. 

 

"We're not dropping it, we're going to do something," she said. "The fear was if we don't do it one year, we may not pick it back up."

 

They tossed around ideas and came up with the collection boxes, similar to what Toys for Tots does. The Armory basement has been used to store the toys in the past so the plan was to keep them all there and have the families drive-through to get them. 

 

"We were trying to keep social distance and everything," King said. "This just works out great."

 

The departments also provided for residents outside of the toy drive. Officers Erik Thomas, Matt Meranti and Det. Joshua Zustra contacted the schools to get names of families in need and the Rev. David Anderson of First Baptist Church reached out for some toys for families he knew. 

 

King said they also wrote out 100 cards to residents at North Adams Commons along with small gifts like puzzles and play cards.