By JOSEPH KELLARD
Held in conjunction with the Oceanside Fire Department Rescue Company No. 1, the toys are collected from the teachers and staff, students, parents, administrators, and firefighters from the Oceanside School District. Ninety percent of the toys are collected through the Oceanside School District, while the remaining donations come from outside sources.
While people have been opening their hearts since Sept. 11, they came through for us, for the kids, again this year, said Leslie Krasnoff, president of the OFT and the drive's organizer, after the toy drive party on Monday, December 10.
The annual party is held at the Rescue Co. firehouse, where Krasnoff's husband, Mitch, served as a chief. The approximately $10 toys are brought to the party and supply such organizations as Oceanside Community Service, Oceanside/Island Park Rotary Club for South Nassau Communities Hospital and its World Trade Center Child and Family Counseling Center, Children with AIDS, St. Mary's Children's Hospital, Catholic Charities, Battered Women's Shelter and other organizations.
At a later date, representatives from these organizations pick up the toys, of which Oceanside Communities Service and Rotary get first pick. And while the drive's primary target is the Oceanside community, it has grown enough to support organizations around the metropolitan area.
Originally, teachers in the Oceanside School District wanted to do something for the community and they thought of a toy drive. They discovered that during the holiday season the local Rotary held its own community drive, wherein they bought the toys and wrapped them.
The teachers, my wife and I decided instead of Rotary paying for all the toys, what if we started some kind of drive where we got toys for them, said Mitch Krasnoff. They loved the idea, so we in turn decided to do a toy party together.
Initially, the party was just for teachers, who were basically asked to attend the party and bring one $10 toy for toddlers to teens.
During the first drive, about 300 toys were collected, which the organizers deemed such a success that another drive was planned for the following year. That year, a handful of students wanted to participate in the drive, and they brought in the Student Council. In later years, Leslie Krasnoff decided to send letters to kids and parents to solicit their participation. From there the drive mushroomed. Not only were increasingly more toys being donated each succeeding year, different organizations were becoming involved in the drive.
Whatever toys are left behind by the Oceanside organizations go to those outside of the community. We've overwhelmed Ronald McDonald House were one year they said the number of toys we gave them would last them a couple of years, Mitch Kransoff said.
Last year, over 3,000 toys were collected. At this year's party, approximately half that many contributions were collected.
Because of Sept. 11 and everything that is going on surrounding it, you can say people are
