Golden Valley Public Safety Planning Holiday Outreach Events to Help Families
Toys for Tots has been a holiday tradition for Golden Valley police officers for nearly 30 years.
Golden Valley police officers help collect toys for Toys for Tots every holiday season.
“We’ve got agencies from all across the Twin Cities and then some from outside of the cities that bring those toys here,” said Police Chief Virgil Green. “Then we’ve got this caravan that we go over to KARE11 and drop those toys off.”
Last year for the first time, Green said his department hosted an informal reception for all visiting departments.
“Overwhelmingly, a lot of people enjoyed that last year, so we’re going to continue to do that,” he said.
Toys For Tots donations are being accepted inside the front lobby of the Golden Valley Police Department until Friday, December 13, the same day the officers will drop them off at KARE11.
“This is all about the kids. When you have agencies that come from across Minnesota to bring those toys here, it just goes to show you how much police officers care about helping families that need that help during the holiday season,” said Green.
Shop With a Cop
Green also said his officers are ready for the annual Shop With a Cop event. Rudy Luther Toyota hosts a chili cook-off event, with all proceeds going to the Golden Valley Crime Prevention Fund.
“This allows us to take kids to a local Target, do some shopping for themselves and their families, and we come back, and the kids eat pizza, and hang out with officers,” said Green. This year’s event is on Wednesday, December 18.
“We want to make sure we’re giving back to the community,” he said.
Santa For A Senior
Golden Valley firefighters, meanwhile, are preparing to gather gifts for a segment of the population that some feel may be overlooked during the holiday season: senior citizens.
Lunds & Byerlys in Golden Valley will put up a Christmas tree that has tags on it with the names of area seniors who request small gifts.
“A lot of these are really small, simple things like new socks or hygiene items, so people can go to the store, pick up one of these little tags off the tree, go and purchase the item, and deliver them to the tree at Lunds & Byerlys,” said Fire Chief Bethany Brunsell.
Firefighters will collect the gifts and deliver them on December 14, she said.
“It’s a great opportunity to give back to people in our community who may not have a lot of things to feel joyful about this time of year and help some people and make people’s holiday season a little bit brighter,” said Brunsell.
