By: Mike Rhodes—
Muncie, IN—On Thursday afternoon, Greg Hubler and the staff at Greg Hubler Ford Hyundai located at 2001 E. McGalliard in Muncie donated 330 toys to the Muncie Police Department for officers to deliver to local children while on patrol.
According to Jami Brown of the Muncie Police Department, customers of the dealership also participated in providing toys. The dealership sponsored a promotion offering discounts to customers if they came in with a toy of their own to donate. Toys were immediately put in the back of police cars for delivery through next week.
Police officers on patrol use the toys to help children who may find themselves in difficult situations. A little comfort by a new toy can make all the difference to a young child. In some instances, officers will stop at homes on their patrol route where the officer knows a family might need a little help from Santa.
The first toy stop yesterday with Hubler and Santa was at the pediatric department of IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.
Greg Hubler is pictured selecting toys that will be delivered to local children by the Muncie Police Department. Photos courtesy of Phil Baird and Jami Brown.
Brown said MPD had already delivered toys provided by other donors. “We have already been out from Monday through Thursday of this week, and those toys were provided by monetary donations from a local restaurant who wished to remain anonymous,” she said.
In past years, MPD focused on toys for the younger kids, but this year they have tried to select toys for kids of different age groups including teenagers. Brown said, “We also have coupons from McDonalds to give to the kids and candy bags to hand out to all kids. We’ve been to the mall parking lot, the Walmart parking lot and even stopped at McCulloch Park the other day where we saw some kids sledding.”
The general public loves what local business sponsors and MPD does for kids during the holidays. Here are a few of their comments from the video below which has been liked 400 times and shared 354 times or more via social media:
“Thank you ALL for what you do.” —Virginia
“MPD is awesome, thanks guys!” —Bret
“Great job as always MPD.” —Toni
“So kind. Thank you Muncie Police Department.”—Becky
“Thank you so much MPD!”—Brittney
“Great to see!!! Makes my heart happy!”—Tonya
“This is absolutely awesome.” —Airick
“We are so blessed to have the Muncie Police Department. Thank you for all you do for our community and our children. Thanks also for working so hard to keep us safe.” —Lisa
Highlights of some of the Muncie Police Department officers delivering gifts to kids.
