Each year the St. Mary’s University Police Department has taken the lead on collecting hundreds of toys for children in need through the Miracle on 36th Street toy drive. The event culminates with the police department giving Santa a lights-and-siren escort to deliver the gifts to neighborhood children.

The service event has been a Christmas tradition on the St. Mary’s campus for more nearly 15 years. In partnership with the St. Mary’s University Service Learning Center, the St. Mary’s Police Department collects hundreds of toys from students, faculty, staff, and alumni of St. Mary’s.

This year, the toy drive resulted in more than 1,000 toys collected, some of which were distributed on Friday through the Community in Schools program at Loma Park Elementary. Additionally, the campus community collected canned goods for the San Antonio Food Bank and gently used clothing for Goodwill Industries.

While the total number of toys collected this year is not yet finalized, in recent years more than 800 toys valued at more than $6,000 have been collected, wrapped and distributed to neighborhood children.

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