Aberdeen Police Doing Kids' Birthday Drive-Bys During Lockdown

ABERDEEN, NJ — FaceTiming with grandparents and six-foot social distancing simply does not make for a very fun party for children celebrating birthdays during the coronavirus pandemic.

That's why Aberdeen police started doing drive-by visits to the home of any child in town who has a birthday. For any parent who requests it, Aberdeen police will now drive by your home on your child's birthday with lights and sirens ablaze, and will also play "Happy Birthday" from their speakers. Aberdeen police also hand the child a small gift from their squad car.

Aberdeen police started doing the visits this past Sunday, and so far they've visited four homes in town, including the home of Kristin and Charles Camilo, where their son, Chad, was turning eight.

"He was actually pretty devastated when he found out he couldn't have a birthday party," mom Kristin told Patch. "The day before he kept asking, 'So who's coming to our house tomorrow?' And we were like babe, nobody! He was really upset and he was crying."

When the police showed up on Sunday, Chad was in the middle of FaceTiming with one of his friends from school. In the video, he can be heard saying, "Eli, stay right there, OK! Just wait, stay right there!" The boy runs outside where he is amazed to find a very special birthday surprise. Aberdeen Patrolmen John Zeller and Phil Santiago were in their patrol cars.

"He was completely amazed," said his mom. "He really thinks he's famous. He is still talking about it. He keeps asking, 'How did they know?!"

The idea was originally conceived by local mom Adrea Geniton, 43, who works closely with Aberdeen police after she formed the Cliffwood Beach Neighborhood Watch.

"A couple parents had posted on Facebook that their kids had missed birthdays during all this, so I presented the idea to the police department to see if they would be willing to drive by," Geniton told Patch. "I reached out to Sgt. Craig Hausmann and said what can we do?"

Hausmann is the police coordinator for Aberdeen Twp. Neighborhood Watch.

If you are an Aberdeen Township resident and have a child that has a birthday that has been effected by covid-19, please reach out to Hausmann via email: Craig.hausmann@aberdeennj.org.

Hausmann asks that parents please email him to coordinate instead of calling police headquarters so as not to tie up lines that are vital for emergencies.

"We just ordered some more police coloring books to give to the kids," said Hausmann, who said the books will be delivered to his house. The Aberdeen police PBA is paying for the coloring books.

"Just email me directly," he said. "And we're giving parents an approximate time of day when we'll show up."

"The police are very happy to do it," said Geniton. "Aberdeen is a big 'small' town and things like this matter. I feel terrible for kids with what they're going through right now. Children shouldn't have to feel our stress. It’s very important to keep the morale up, especially with the children in our community."

Other articles we've written about Cliffwood Beach: Cliffwood Beach Residents: Slow Down While Driving Here! (August 2019)