Editor’s Note: The applications are not just for children in Millbrook. Each application will be reviewed, regardless of the location of the family. If your family needs assistance to make this Christmas bright for your children 15 and under, pick up an application from the Millbrook Police Department at the front lobby.
BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS OWNER
The deadline to apply for help with Christmas toys is fast approaching for this year’s Millbrook Police Department Operation Blue Santa.
The goal is to help as many area children as possible according to organizers. With the funds that have been raised by groups such as the Punishers LEMC Three Rivers Chapter, there are a lot of kids that could have Christmas presents this year. But you need to pick up an application from the Millbrook Police Department as soon as possible and return it completed by Monday, Dec. 6.
That deadline is not chiseled in stone. It could go a few days out. But remember, that shopping is done in advance of the festivities based on the needs of the applicants. The program is designed to help families provide presents for children 15 and under.
Since 2015 the Millbrook Police Department has hosted Operation Blue Santa. Since the inception of the program, thousands of children have received presents from “Santa” with the help of donations, community partners, churches, businesses and individuals.
The Punishers LEMC Three Rivers Chapter is helping this year by hosting a Christmas Party for area kids and their families Dec.17 from 6-8 p.m. The event will take place in the courtroom of the Al Kelly Municipal Building on Grandview Road. It is open to the public! There will be milk and cookies, hot chocolate and snacks for the kids.
Throughout the past year, the Punishers have held fundraisers and will present those funds to the department. In the past, they have provided untold numbers of new bicycles and other gifts, in cooperation with Santa Claus, of course.
AND…Santa Claus will be at the Christmas Party to visit this year as well. Little known fact…Santa is an official member of the International Punishers Organization.
For parents who submit applications and are accepted, you will have the opportunity to make arrangements to pick up gifts at this event, or the following week until Wednesday, Dec. 23.
DONATIONS NEEDED! Please help this event by donating new, unwrapped toys for kids 15 and Under. Drop them off at the Millbrook Police Department lobby, the Front Porch Grill or the American Legion Post 133.
Millbrook Police Chief P.K. Johnson first came to the department in 1996 as an officer.
“During my tenure with this department, the men and women of the Millbrook Police Department have always tried to assist a couple of families with children that might not otherwise have gifts for Christmas,” Chief Johnson said. “It’s another way to serve and give back to our community. This program, Operation Blue Santa, is the brainchild of Lieutenant Don Pugh started in 2015, and has been an overwhelming success.”
The department went from assisting a few families, to HUNDREDS of children in our area each year.
Johnson said that by beginning the application process the program has been streamlined and helps more people with things that are specific towards their ages and the need as well.
