The UC Berkeley Police Department’s (UCPD) 1st Annual Toy Drive will run from May 26 to June 5th.
According to Alex Yao, captain of UCPD Berkeley, new or gently used books and toys will be collected and distributed to children who live in University Village, where many Cal graduate families live, and to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland. The books will go to a soon-to-be-built lending library at University Village, and the toys to both the village and the hospital.
Sophomore Kaylee Johns is responsible for extending the drive from the UC Berkley campus to Campolindo. “My mom helped me out with it because she works at Cal,” she said. “She got in contact with the police officer of UC Berkley and he helped me out with running the drive.”
Johns also collaborated with the Leadership class to bring the drive to Campolindo.
“[Johns] sent me an email asking me if I’d be interested in helping pull this all together, and I said that we’d be more than happy to help her promote it and get the word out,” said Leadership advisor Dino Petrocco. “We had leadership class put posters out and we put it in the bulletin and announcements and things like that. And then she’s done everything else: She’s brought out the boxes, and she’s made all the collections.”
“I kind of thought that Campo would be good at giving back to people,” Johns said. “I thought it’d be a good way to get rid of stuff you don’t want; other kids would like it too.”
“I just think it’s good to give things that you don’t want anymore, that other kids would love to have at the hospital,” said sophomore Alicia Long.
So far, UCPD has collected about 700 books and toys. Yao said that they are very grateful for the collaboration with Campolindo. He’s glad that the movement is “spreading out past our community.”
Petrocco added that Johns’ participation in the collaboration drive is “really impressive.”
“I think it’s really great,” he said. “Sounds like a good cause. Everybody has books lying around. I hope for her sake that it goes well.”
