Santa’s PBA Workshop
NJ State PBA Locals collect holiday gifts by the truckload for underprivileged kids
n AMBER RAMUNDO
n PHOTOS BY ED CARATTINI, JR. AND AMBER RAMUNDO
Weeks before the 11th annual NJ State PBA Toy Drive deposit, Hank Werner
had a feeling that this could be the biggest haul yet.
Werner, the PBA’s Second Vice-President and Chair of the Sports and Special
Events Committee, has run the Toy Drive to collect gifts for the New Jersey Fos-
ter and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) each holiday season for the past sev-
en years. During those years, he’s seen the volume of toys collected overtake the
Pines Mano r meeting hall in an attempt to make sure children separated from
their families are remembered. But when Werner received word that PetSmart in
Bridgewater wanted to donate 800 stuffed animals to the cause this year, he truly
felt a Christmas miracle coming.
“When you come in with garbage bags filled with toys for kids, you feel like
Santa Claus,” Werner bellowed. “This is a plug for law enforcement in general. We
are typically giving, caring, loving guys and girls who want to help.”
Werner and NJSPBA Special Projects Coordinator John Hulse set off on Santa
duty to load the 32 bags of stuffed animals into the PBA trailer for transport to
the Toy Drive on Dec. 5. Once the trailer was filled with the fuzzy animals that he
knew would bring so much warmth to foster children this Christmas, PBA mem-
bers were only beginning to deck the hall. He had no idea the bundles of gifts that
were still to come from PBA Locals across the state that stockpiled toys.
Delivery Day
Equipped with coffee cups in one hand and balancing bicycles and board
games in the other, Local members stormed the December PBA State Meeting
with purpose. The toy drop-off line began to stretch down the hallway, as the
Pines Manor banquet hall quickly morphed into a North Pole workshop stocked
by New Jersey law enforcement. The room buzzed with activity as PBA members
and FAFS volunteers tried not to trip over packages while organizing the toys.
But when Joe Dudley arrived, towing a trailer stuffed to capacity with games,
dolls and Hot Wheels, the necessity for helping hands shifted to the parking lot to
unload the big delivery.
“I’ve got a soft spot for this particular charity,” shared Dudley, the Dunellen
Local 146 State Delegate whose father went through the foster care system in the
1960s. “These kids have it rough. Each year (Local 146) tries to do a little bit more
for the toy drive.”
All you have to do is glance at Dudley’s festive
Christmas light Converse to get a feel for his out-
right holiday spirit. But it’s really his secret Santa
efforts to organize the ultimate toy-drive experi-
ence in his town that make Local 146’s goodwill
shine.
On Nov. 30, Local 146 launched the holiday sea-
son
in Dunellen by hosting a one-night viewing of
ate
leg
De
Dunellen Local 146 State
The
Polar
Express at Dunellen’s vintage movie the-
toy
his
w
sho
es
Joe Dudley’s sho
ater.
The
theater
quickly filled with children who
drive spirit.
were encouraged to wear their pajamas and enjoy
some hot chocolate while viewing a favorite Christmas flick. Meanwhile, gifts
filled the lobby of the theater from toy drive donations made by families who
didn’t hesitate to give presents to foster children in exchange for movie tickets.
“If you wanted to know what Christmas felt like, you just had to be in that
building that night,” Dudley mused.
The trailer of Dunellen toy donations was unloaded by an assembly line of PBA
members, including Werner, who warned the FAFS staff to make room in the PBA
workshop for Local 146’s enormous contribution.
“I had to walk through the room taking a video to post on our Local’s social
media and say thanks to the community,” Dudley shared. “I want them to see
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