Alex Coolman
GRAND CENTRAL -- The employees of Glenair's ABC Division spend most of
their days putting together electrical cables that are used in the
aerospace industry, but recently they put together something different:
boxes of toys to give to the Police Department.
Their timing was perfect, said Sgt. Rick Young. The police have given
away about 2,000 toys to children in recent months, and their toy closet
had just run empty.
Officers carry around the toys in the trunks of their patrol cars and
give them to the children they see in the course of calls to homes. In
the middle of what can be an unhappy encounter, the gift-giving adds a
note of joy.
"It makes the kid's day, that day at least, really happy," Young said.
Paula Chadbourne, an engineer with Glenair, said the company has given
away toys around the holidays for some time.
"For the last three or four years we've given them to a women's
shelter," she said. This year, Chadbourne decided to donate to the
police.
Young said the toys -- ranging from a "Rock and Roll Big Bird" to tubs
of Play-Doh -- are sure to find good homes.
"Any time we run into a child that's been a victim, we open the closet
up and let them choose," he said.
