NEW YORK (PIX11) -- The NYPD is making spirits bright and making its way through the five boroughs before Christmas.
Wednesday, it landed on Staten Island and in Brooklyn, where hundreds of toys were handed out to less fortunate families.
The sound children heard in Flatbush wasn't the rumble of reindeer guiding Santa’s sleigh but New York’s Finest.
On a motorcycle, the Highway Unit ushered in the Toy Express for Brooklyn boys and girls.
The annual Yuletide spectacle featured Santa and a cast of characters to bring joy and gifts to nine thousand children this holiday season.
"It's very emotional, and it's great," Viviana Martinez said.
Emotional for her because strangers and the NYPD helped deliver this magic to her four kids.
The gifts were plentiful, 25,000 in total for NYC children, collected from across the country by a host of donors.
"It's something that will be a lifelong memory for them and go further on in their future to share with their kids," said NYPD Community Affairs Inspector Victoria Perry.
NYPD's Community Affairs again teamed up with the First Responder Children’s Foundation. The toys were amassed in a Michigan warehouse and shipped to over one hundred American cities with the greatest need.
"It gives law enforcement and first responders opportunity to go in their communities to have a day of joy, not run into danger," said Jillian Crane, President and CEO of the foundation.
She added that it helps build bonds that transcend the holidays.
"Just grateful for being together was all I'm worried about. Having somewhere to stay. But this exceeded my expectations," said Taifa Farrington, a mom of five.
Forty personally curated boxes of holiday cheer are also being delivered to those children of first responders whose parents died in the line of duty in New York City.
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