8th annual toy drive to be held in Newark

By Ruben Nieves | Published by December 9, 2020

The ongoing pandemic is tough, but that is not enough to stop Dr. Norma Bowe and the “Be The Change” club from running its annual Christmas  toy drive in Newark.

Of course, due to Covid 19 and social distancing restrictions, this year won’t be like their typical toy drive, but Dr. Bowe says they will still bring that same Christmas spirit. 

Every year, Dr. Bowe, a volunteer Santa Claus and the Be The Change club members distribute hundreds of toys. Santa Claus usually goes through the streets greeting the kids, and distributing toys. This is its eighth year doing a toy drive. 

“We do a really big Christmas project, we bring Santa to the streets and go through garden projects and our Be the Change group donates toys,” said Dr. Bowe, who teaches in the science department. “We also get toys from Toys for Tots.”

  In a normal year, they also provide  hot chocolate and cookies for families and everyone sings along to Christmas tunes.   Kids get to meet Santa up close, sit on his lap and maybe discuss being naughty or nice. 

“We are doing it differently this year because of COVID. “ said Dr. Bowe. “Santa, will be waving to kids from doorsteps and windows and we will drop the toys on the doorsteps.” 

Also scrapped this year due to Covid is the event where students and others gift wrap the toys in Hennings Hall.

“When people drop off toys, we let them sit for two weeks before we wrap them,” said Dr. Bowe.

This year, as every year since 2012, Santa is Coach Dave Gallante, a Kean alumni and the offensive line coach for Kean Football. 

“What makes me dress up as Santa is the joy and smiles on the kids’ faces when we can give them a gift to put under their tree for Christmas,” Galante said.

Dr. Bowe describes Galante as the epitome of Santa Claus.

“He has a heart of gold,” said Dr. Bowe. “He is incredible, not only with his players but with this particular project.”

Dressed as Santa, Gallante said he enjoys talking to the kids  to create an unforgettable experience for young children.

“The thing I like the most is asking the kids how they are doing in school, and hearing them tell me about their accomplishments,” said Galante. “It is a true Christmas miracle and an incredible event where we can share with those that need it and give happiness and hope to families during the holidays.”

Dr. Bowe, who created this toy drive, has been conducting research in Newark and has been homicide mapping the city for the past couple of years. The group then picked particular neighborhoods that had higher violent crime, adopted a lot from the city, and turned it into a garden, Bowe said. 

After adopting certain parts of a neighborhood, Dr. Bowe became invested in community projects throughout the city. Today. Dr. Bowe and her organization feed about 700 to 1,000 people a week. They deliver food every Tuesday and Friday. 

“I became Santa because Dr. Bowe asked me to do it for her organization, and I’ve loved doing it ever since,” said Galante. “Our first year in 2012, we received a donation for a swing set and placed it in the garden where the kids in the surrounding area could play and what a difference it made.”

Be The Change, under Dr. Bowe’s direction, for instance, has fed about 300 families since the pandemic started.  In fact, the Christmas drive is just one of several annual they stage every year.

“For Thanksgiving we bring meals, in Easter we have an egg hunt, and for the fall we have a pumpkin painting,” said Dr. Bowe. “It’s a social justice project as well as food justice project.”

The goal  set this year for the toy drive is to give out some 1,200 toys. As of December 8, they had 720 toys in total and Dr. Bowe believes with Toys for Tots, they reach their goal of 1,200 toys.

.“I’ve been doing this event since 2012 at the Be the Change Garden on south 14th Street in Newark,” said Galante. “It is the highlight of my holiday season.”

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