Santa To Deliver Presents To Greenwich Children On A Firetruck

GREENWICH, CT — While he typically delivers presents on Christmas Eve, some lucky children in town will have an early gift delivered to them by Santa Claus this month, with help from the Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol.

Over the next couple of weekends, the CCFPP will host "Operation Santa," during which Santa and the Grinch will board one of the volunteer company's firetrucks and deliver pre-wrapped holiday presents to children in town. (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

According to Stephanie Dunn Ashley, president of CCFPP's board of directors, this holiday event is not only intended to spread cheer to residents, but also benefit the volunteer company following the cancelation of their annual fundraising benefit in March due to the coronavirus crisis.

"We originally thought we were going to postpone it," Ashley said, "so we kept pushing it off, and then we realized we couldn't have it...clearly a fundraiser with [hundreds of people] was not a good thing to do in the midst of a pandemic."

While the company had hoped to simply postpone the event, they ultimately decided to cancel the fundraising benefit completely this year.

"Unfortunately, that meant we lost all of our fundraising abilities for the year," Ashley said, "because we kept postponing it, thinking we were going to have one maybe over the summer, and then things just got worse. Without that, we needed to find some other ways to supplement what it is that we do, because we are an all-volunteer organization."

Ashley said Operation Santa is designed to raise funds for the company and offer a way for members to interact with the public in a safe way.

To participate, residents can donate $250 to the CCFPP, then choose a delivery date. Gifts will be delivered on Dec. 12, 13, 19 and 20.

Prior to the delivery, participants must drop off a pre-wrapped holiday gift to the Cos Cob Firehouse, located on 200 E. Putnam Avenue. Once those steps are completed, Santa and his crew will take it from there.

While children who receive these deliveries can not get in the firetrucks, they will have the opportunity to come outside and view the truck, as well as take socially distant photos with the truck, Santa and the Grinch.

According to First Selectman Fred Camillo, the event offers families a fun activity to take part in during a particularly challenging holiday season.

"Operation Santa is another example of the support the Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol provides our community," Camillo said. "It also gives the community an opportunity to celebrate the season with the comfort of a holiday tradition during these otherwise unprecedented, challenging times."

Aside from the fundraising aspect, Ashley said the company is eager to spread some holiday cheer to children and families in town this year.

"This has obviously been a year upon years, and anyway that we can deliver some holiday cheer that's a little bit different and still safe is the way to do it," Ashley said. "Kids love lights and they love fire engines, so we're ready to make sure they have fun and that the holidays are still good for them...we want to make them feel happy."

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