For the second year in a row, the Glendora Police Department received a hefty donation to supplement their efforts to bring Christmas cheer to needy children.
Larry Miller and Nelson Bercier of Sit ’n Sleep donated a truckload of toys, roughly 200 in all, to help with the department’s Operation Blue Christmas, supplementing other donations from the community.
Kohl’s in Glendora and America’s Christian Credit Union also donated to Operation Blue Christmas.
Glendora officers, cadets and auxiliary officers help to deliver the gifts to underprivileged families.
Sit ‘n Sleep’s Nelson Bercier and Glendora Auxiliary Officer Ed Saiza stand before a Glendora Police truck overflowing with donations. Photo courtesy of the Glendora Police Department.
Auxiliary Officer Ed Saiza, who is been the manager of the West Covina Sit ’n Sleep, helped to secure the donation. Saiza reached out to both Miller and Bercier via email asking if they would like to contribute to Operation Blue Christmas and they were more than willing to help.
“Normally it would just be an effort to gather things from our corporate offices, which has about 100 employees. This year, they opened it up to all the store locations. So my peers and sales people all participated and I think that’s what made it a huge success this year,” Saiza said.
Throughout the year, officers come into contact with families that the department later visits during Operation Blue Christmas to provide little holiday cheer, said Glendora Police Chief Tim Staab.
“Larry has been extremely generous. I can’t thank him enough,” Staab said.
