FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 19, 2019 • HOLIDAY GUIDE • THE QUEENS COURIER 51 holiday
Police union delivers an early Christmas to kids in Far Rockaway
BY TODD MAISEL
Children in Brooklyn and Queens
received gift s for the Christmas holiday
in an eff ort by the Police Benevolent
Association to not only reach out to the
youth they serve, but also to help provide
a positive experience with police in their
communities.
Despite the rainy weekend, police offi -
cers, kids and members of the Brownsville
and Far Rockaway communities gathered
at two recreation centers – the fi rst at the
Church of the Nazarene in Far Rockaway
and the other, the Brownsville Recreation
Center in Brooklyn — to get into the holiday
spirit and to bring a positive message
going into the new year.
Th e Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association
(PBA) teamed up with members of those
communities and brought two van loads
of toys to local kids and join the community
for a holiday celebration.
Bringing gift s to low-income communities
is a “long PBA tradition,” said PBA
President Pat Lynch.
PBA members, offi cers from the 101st
Precinct and church volunteers helped to
unload presents from the vans as numerous
families lined up outside the community
center waiting for their gift s.
Aft er giving out the piles of gift s in
Rockaway, a caravan of cops headed to
the Brownsville Recreation Center, where
hundreds of children were having their
holiday party with dancers, a magician,
karate demonstrations, arts and craft s,
and plenty of snacks. A room full of toys
awaited those kids as well.
PBA members, offi cers from the 101st
Precinct and church volunteers helped to
unload presents from the vans as numerous
families lined up outside the community
center waiting for their gift s.
Aft er giving out the piles of gift s in
Rockaway, a caravan of cops headed to
the Brownsville Recreation Center, where
hundreds of children were having their
holiday party with dancers, a magician,
karate demonstrations, arts and craft s,
and plenty of snacks. A room full of toys
awaited those kids as well.
Reverend Les Mullings of the Church
of the Nazarene said it is more important
than ever for police to connect with children
at a young age for their community
leaders to reach children to “teach them
respect – because if you teach them that,
they will never hurt somebody.”
“Th e next generation needs to get used
to working hand in hand because there has
been a bad culture over the years, and the
only way to change that is to train our kids
that the police are your friends. Th ey are
here to protect and serve them – protect
them from the thieves and bad guys, and
that’s why they are there,” Mullings said.
Mullings was particularly distressed by
the young teens reportedly connected to
the murder of a Barnard College freshman
in Morningside Heights this week.
“We have to start working with children
early,” Mullings said. “Raising a child
is a 24-hour job, not just giving them
something to eat and sending to school,
but teaching them what is right: respect,
honor and what it means to be a good
citizen and that they are accountable to
somebody.”
Jerry Childs, manager of the Brownsville
Recreation Center welcomed the PBA saying
their participation with the children
goes a long way to improving police community
relations and teaching children.
“It is so important to have the police as a
partnership with the community so it is a
blessing to have the police involved in this
beautiful Christmas celebration,” Childs
said. “It is so important to have children
engaged in positive activity and then it
gives less opportunity to be involved in
other activities that are contradictory to
the community – and that’s very important
to the children.”
Lynch said NYPD and his union have
been working to improve perceptions of
police offi cers in the neighborhood, and
to provide a good example to the children.
He recalled Police offi cer Randolph
Holder, shot to death in Harlem in 2015,
grew up in Far Rockaway and participated
in the Church of the Nazarene.
“Today is a day for children to get a
gift and prepare for Christmas, but also
the message is that these police offi cers
are here to keep the community safe,”
Lynch said. “Today’s a day we feel like
we are coming home just to say ‘Merry
Christmas’ to you.”
Th e PBA plans to visit Th ree Kings
Church in the Bronx in January to treat
children there to a new year celebration.
Photos by Todd Maisel
Members of the PBA and offi cers from the 101st Precinct, unload a van full of toys for children in
Far Rockaway.
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