An NYPD sergeant who grew up getting his Christmas toys from a local church in Brooklyn is paying it forward to a new generation of needy children.
NYPD Sgt. Shaun Dominicci and his fellow officers in the counterterrorism division collected hundreds of gifts for Toys for Tots and by Friday, they'd filled up an entire truck to send off to the Marine Corps, who will distribute the toys to local children in need.
Dominicci, a 16-year veteran, said his own vivid memory of receiving a toy from his local church sparked the idea for the drive last year.
"I grew up, I don't want to say poor, but low income, and my mother used to take me to church as a child, and you get a present," he said.
"I remember I received a toy train set, and that will always stay in my life," said Dominicci. "It's one of the best gifts I ever had."
The Toys for Tots nonprofit program is run by the Marine Corps Reserve, and distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas.
"I think these kids, when they receive these presents -- I know it firsthand, it's the best thing you can get. You believe in Santa or you don't believe in Santa, that's the proudness you have when receiving this gift: 'Oh, somebody gave me this,'" said Dominicci. "And the strain it has on the family, on the parents who can't afford to give the gifts, it's great [to help]."
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When he got the idea to start the drive last year, Dominicci said he asked his chief's permission and got the green light right away.
"The chief was ecstatic, he said, 'This is great, we want to jump on this 100 percent,'" recalled Dominicci. "He contacted every unit within our bureau."
NYPD Chief of Counterterroism James Waters recalled the touching phone call he received from Dominicci asking if he could set up the drive.
"Shaun said, 'I have an idea about collecting toys for Christmas, but I need to tell you a story first,'" said Waters. "And he relayed this story of his early childhood with his brothers and his mother in Brooklyn, and that they were poor. And that he vividly remembers walking with his mother hand in hand to get a toy."
"It quickly resonated with me that that was going to be his Christmas," said Waters. "And so he said, 'I have an opportunity now to make a difference. Am I OK to do this? Can we put the boxes out in the commands, can we collect money, can we make a difference in another child's life for Christmas?' And I said, let's go do this."
Among the commands who pitched in were the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the NYPD bomb squad, the Critical Response Command and the World Trade Center police.
"There's 1,000 people in the Counterterrorism Bureau, and I asked each and every one of them to step up and put a toy in the box or put some money in the envelope so that the team we put together could go do the shopping," said Waters.
"When I wake up Christmas morning... I'll know for sure that there are children that are going to wake up Christmas morning, and there's going to be a gift for them that they might not have had it had it not been for this collection," he said.
Waters said Toys 'R Us helped the NYPD with a personal shopper and assisted them in maximizing their money to buy the most toys.
He says they plan to repeat the drive next year, "bigger and better."
