From left, Officer Bill Baxter, Captain Genevieve King, and officer Luis Vazquez stacked gifts donated by police personnel for needy children as part of the Giving Tree program.
(EVAN RICHMAN/GLOBE STAFF)
'Giving Tree' yields gifts for needy
Police spearhead donation drive
Youth service officers from the Boston Police Department prepared to deliver an estimated 500 donated gifts to needy children yesterday. Along with other department employees, they participated in the "Giving Tree" program by plucking paper ornaments describing a child's age, specific needs, and clothing size from a 10-foot-tall tree.
After all the paper ornaments were taken, Annie Wilcox of the department's Bureau of Field Services redecorated the tree with real ornaments. Yesterday, a sea of gifts awaiting delivery sat under the sparkling tree, with the paper ornaments identifying the children in need attached to them.
Captain Genevieve King said the program, launched last year, is helped by community agencies such as the Boys and Girls Club of Boston. Community organizations and youth service officers work together to identify the city's most impoverished children.
"This year we have an unusually high number of homeless families," King said. "They are the neediest cases."
King said the gift deliveries, which will be made over the next couple of days, can get emotional. "Last year there were stories about parents crying they were so grateful," she said.
The department asked employees to focus on providing children with warm clothes, King said, but many officers included toys in their packages.
SUZANNE SMALLEY 
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
