By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Needy Upper West Side families got an early visit from Santa when the NYPD's 24th Precinct Community Council handed out 100 gift bags stocked with toys and games.
The toy giveaway is an annual tradition for the 24th Precinct's Community Council, which raises money throughout the year to pay for the event.
Council president Tom Burnett said the giveaway helps build positive relationships between police and residents. "It's a way for the kids to see the police as their friend," Burnett said.
On Saturday morning about 15 families showed up at P.S. 145 on West 105th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus, where Ernest the Clown entertained kids with balloon animals and jokes.
Then the families lined up to receive their gifts bags. This year's presents included a basketball, checkers, a jump rope and a puzzle.
Kaila Ordonez, 11, said her favorite gift was the Kiddy Dough.
"I think it's excellent," she said of the toy giveaway. "The people who have less gifts get to have more."
Giveaway organizer Lucille Michele Donte has been involved in the event for at least 15 years, she said. "I keep saying each year I'm through," Donte said.
But she added that she keeps coming back.
"I just love how happy the children are. Sometimes I see them on the street (after the giveaway) and they come up to me and they're very happy."
In addition to the families who attended the giveaway at P.S. 145, the 24th Precinct Community Council will also give 30 gift bags to a local homeless shelter and distribute bags to kitchen workers at Upper West Side restaurants.
"They're in the kitchen working all the time," Donte said. "I wanted to do something for the hidden people."
