In between the fire engines and ladder trucks of the White River Township Fire Department, a makeshift Santa’s workshop has come together.
Tables full of action figures, art sets and dolls stretch throughout the space. Bins full of Hot Wheels cars and boxes of Disney character toys are waiting to be sorted.
The department has spent the last year raising money, organizing donors and coordinating a massive gift campaign throughout the Center Grove area.
Gifts have to be sorted, wrapped in fancy paper and bows, and set aside in special bags. All to make sure every child has a special Christmas morning.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery"People don’t generally think of the Center Grove area as having a need," said Fire Chief Jeremy Pell. "It’s known as an upper-scale community, but there are kids in this community who otherwise wouldn’t have a Christmas. These are kids in need."
The White River Township Fire Department is again be providing toys, clothing and other items to needy children this holiday season. The department is preparing to distribute gift bundles to 200 kids through the United Way of Johnson County’s Christmas Angels program.
Hours of work goes into the project, on top of the department’s everyday mission of public safety. But it’s worth it to see the gratefulness of families they help.
"It’s their whole world. This is their Christmas," said Craig Zollars, the department’s life safety officer and organizer of the effort.
The United Way of Johnson County organizes the Christmas Angels program each year. Local families in need are referred to the agency, and sponsors are found to provide clothing and toys to the kids in those families at the holidays.
For the White River Township fire department, the focus is on children referred by schools in the Center Grove area, Bargersville and parts of Greenwood. Each child provides a list blending needs and fun items such as toys or a new football.
Families receive huge bags of gifts, filled with needed items such as coats, clothes and shoes, as well as items on their wish list, Zollars said.
The fire department has participated in the Christmas Angels program for about 15 years. At the time, individual crews within the department picked families from a list provided by the United Way.
When it started, the department was providing for fewer than 50 children. That number has ballooned to 200 kids provided for by the firefighters.
Among the fire department staff, there’s pride and tradition of being these kids’ Christmas Angels each year, Pell said.
"The people here have a heart for service. You don’t do this as a job, you do this as a calling, and along with that heart of service, this comes easy. Why wouldn’t you help kids for Christmas?" Pell said.
In the past, when the fire department was only serving a few dozen children, firefighters would drive to each house in a fire truck, adding an element of excitement to the children who were home. But the demand has grown so great that Zollars has established pick-up times at the department’s three stations, and have families come this weekend at their convenience.
Firefighters will still deliver if a family has a special circumstance where they cannot leave the home, Zollars said.
Throughout the year, the department plans fundraisers to support the effort, including a night serving food at Texas Roadhouse. Firefighters have partnered with area businesses such as Old National Bank and Kroger to do hamburger cook-offs and chili contests.
Target provides wrapping paper and volunteers to help with the wrapping. Zollars also writes grant requests to places such as Walmart to help.
"There are a lot of partners who help us do this," Pell said. "It’s a huge operation."
While the fire department is the hub of the donation activity, it also relies heavily on others in the community to help.
Crabapple Creek Country Day School has a massive toy drive to provide items for the children. Area businesses buy specific items such as wagons or bicycles to help with the effort.
Some individuals drop off bags of toys they bought on their own, while others want to sponsor a child and everything on their list.
"They come in and pick a child to help," Zollars said. "A lot of people like to shop with and include their own children, to teach them about how to do the right thing."
The main focus of the effort is providing Christmas to the needy, Pell said. But the high visibility and wide reach of Christmas Angels also helps with the fire department’s work year-round.
With Zollars as the department’s life safety officer, he can also talk to recipients of the bundles about important safety measure. Often, he asks families if they have working smoke detectors in their home, or helps check to see if they have a car seat properly installed at the pick-up location.
"That can open the door to something life-changing," Pell said. "Craig has found some wonderfully unique ways to touch this community and open that door to figure out how to make people a little safer. It’s important. It matches us up to all kinds of good things."
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White River Township Fire Department
Christmas Angels effort
What: A community outreach effort by the fire department to provide clothes, toys and other gifts for Christmas for needy children in the Center Grove area.
How many kids: 200 children
How to help: This year’s delivery is complete, but to help for 2017, e-mail the department at <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, subject line "Christmas Angels," call 317-888-8337, or visit the fire department headquarters at 850 S. Mullinix Road, Greenwood.
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