PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Fire Department has teamed up with a Northeast Philadelphia chiropractor to provide toys for the many children in need in the city, and they need all the help they can get right now.
Battalion Chief Tom Kane said the department welcomed the opportunity to resume work with Toys for Tots after several members told him about the work that chiropractor Anne Marie Muldoon does in her spare time as a Marine Corps Reserve civilian Toys for Tots coordinator.
"When we look at the worldwide situation right now, everything is a mess," said Kane.
"You look at Christmastime as one of the things where kids look back and say, 'At least I had a nice Christmas.' With unemployment and situations that are happening right now, any part we can do to help bring that normalcy back, we are happy to do that."
Muldoon said the need is great.
"We need thousands, tens of thousands of toys to cover the city of Philadelphia at this point. Last year with COVID, we came up very short with toys. What we are looking for this year are volunteers," she stressed. "The Fire Department has helped us tremendously with box drop-offs and pick-ups but we also need warehouse volunteers, event hosts. We need corporate sponsorships that could buy a large lot of toys."
Related
Muldoon also agreed that concerns such as safety and rising gas costs also hamper their efforts. "People don't have the money to put gas in their car to drive around and pick up boxes and that is where the fire department came in," she said.
"We are also promoting safe drop-off points. There is increased crime in the city. We appreciate the fact that every single fire house has a toy box in it. So if people want to drive up and drop off their toys, it's much safer."
The deadline to drop off new toys to any fire house in the city is December 17. For more information on donating or volunteering, you can visit their website.