Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel are always busy in the community. Here is a snapshot of what Department members are doing across the county.
Spark Of Love Toy Drives
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) partnered with ABC7, the Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Marines Toys for Tots and other organizations to celebrate the 24th year of the Spark of Love Toy Drive at the Los Cerritos Center on Friday, Dec. 2. Refreshments were served and giveaways were raffled for residents who donated to the toy drive.
Every year, the Spark of Love campaign collects new, unwrapped toys and sports equipment for underserved children and teens in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. The toys collected are donated to eligible organizations throughout the counties.
“We’re doing great. We’re stuffing all these buses with all these toys. We’re going to try and give every kid a toy this year,” said Fire Captain Keith Mora.
The campaign began with a friendly competition between LACoFD and LA City Fire on which department collected the most toys to “Stuff a Bus.” Nine-and-a-half buses were stuffed with toys at the Los Cerritos Center. Dozens of residents and Department employees volunteered for the event.
On Saturday, Dec. 3, the Board of Supervisors treated more than 500 children and teens from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to a trip at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. While at Magic Mountain, over 800 toys were collected and handed out to the DCFS children and teens. Department personnel and Explorer Post 13 volunteered at the event.
Fire Chief Daryl Osby personally handed out gifts to children at Magic Mountain. He also thanked Explorer Post 13 and Department personnel for supporting the Spark of Love Campaign.
“This year, we had a good outcome from communities… We do this every year to bring a smile to a child’s face. LACoFD hopes to continue this tradition for years to come,” said Inspector Gustavo Medina.
The Department hopes to surpass last year’s collection of 450,000 toys. The toy drive will run through Dec. 24, 2016.
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