Katrina Kids Toy Drive a Success

January 13, 2009 – More than 12,000 kids whose families remain affected by Hurricane Katrina were still able to have a great Christmas thanks to the efforts of some active and retired members of the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) of Greater New York Local 94 and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association (UFOA) of New York Local 854.

Thirty fire fighters escorted eight toy-filled trucks donated by Penske to Mississippi and Alabama in mid-December to deliver toys in three Mississippi counties and Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

The New York fire fighters received assistance from local affiliates and fire departments surrounding the toy drop-off locations. “We had an incredible network of people,” says Tom O’Connor, retired Local 854 member and toy drive organizer. “All of them did an amazing job.”

“It is a lot of hard work, but it all becomes worth it when you see how much the families still need our help,” O’Connor says. “One mother told me that she lost her home to Katrina and her FEMA trailer to Gustav.”

The Katrina Toy Drive evolved out of the Stephen Siller Foundation hurricane relief efforts in 2005. After the storm, Foundation Chairman Frank Siller, whose fire fighter brother died on 9/11, reached out to other fire fighter families and formed the 9/11 Families for Katrina Relief. In October 2005, the families sent 16 more trucks, two of them full of toys.

Although the 9/11 Families for Katrina Relief has since dissolved, the toy drive has not. In the subsequent years, O’Connor begins organizing the drive in August by contacting charities that have previously donated toys, such as the Bethesda Outreach Program in Pennsylvania and Books for Kids in New York.

O’Connor also works to secure commitments from other retired and active fire fighters, “It is a huge commitment, especially for the active fire fighters. They have to use their own vacation time or sacrifice shifts in order to participate.”