The culmination of the annual Chieffo Family Toy Drive didn't attract the odd news camera the way it usually does, not with drone sightings being all the rage, but in Nutley, Mike Chieffo's event attracted many residents on their street and people from all over Essex County.
Having a Malcolm X Shabazz High School Band performance was just one reason to show up. In addition to one of the most celebrated high school marching bands in the country, there was Santa and other characters; there was cocoa; a toy train kids could ride on; a DJ booth manned by Chieffo himself (he's the owner of DJMC Entertainment); a local man decked out in an impressive robot suit; along with the other Chieffos and their friends loading up the toys in the container haul of a semi-truck from Office Fix LLC.
Chieffo now organizes the drive with wife, Michelle, but founded the toy drive 20 years ago in honor of his father, he said earlier this week.
"I grew up in Belleville and when I was 12 years old, my father died of Burkitt's leukemia," Chieffo said. "I started this probably when I was about 18. I always loved Christmas, so I started doing this animated Christmas display in front of my mother's house, and then two years or later after that or so I was like, 'Let's give back somehow.'"
Chieffo's father had been involved civically with the town of Belleville, and doing a toy drive that benefited the American Cancer Society was a good way to memorialize his father, he said.
Twenty years later, technology being where it is means the Chieffos are able to reach out beyond their local communities, with the result being that they've gone from Chieffo working with a few people and collecting hundreds of toys to over 5,000 this year, they said.
"I just think we have huge support from our community, from local police, fire department, from all of the schools," Michelle Chieffo said. "Generally everyone does a collection within the school. We have our local churches donating and a lot of small businesses; they act as drop-off locations so that if people are out and about and they can't make it on the night of, they're able to drop toys locally around town.
"And in order for us to say thank you, this event on our street, the night of, it's just a great way to express how grateful we are to our community."
Shoprite made a major donation to them this year, she said
Organizations the toys are going to include Clara Maas Medical Center, Columbia Presbyterian Pediatric Cancer Hospital, Nutley Family Service Bureau, local schools for the deaf, and women's shelters.
"We also have a local VFW veteran who does a lot of community service in Newark," she said, "and we're able to give her a lot of toys so that she can do her work."
"All of the toys go to or serve different purposes," said Mike Chieffo. "For oncology outpatients ... Those toys are sorted in a room. Toys are organized by age and category. Families come in, and they're able to shop for their children. When their kids are sick, they don't have time to do that. For kids that are sick at the hospital or at a women's shelter, the toys serve a tremendous purpose."
From day one, in a drive for the American Cancer Society, there were 25 people outside of Chieffo's house, he said. "And I was like, 'Holy cow, that's a great response. Now we have a few 100 people outside. It's not just about my family and us doing this. It's about all the surrounding communities coming together and getting involved."
When it comes to the Malcolm X Shabazz High School Band, Chieffo saw them perform at a football game and soon reached out about them performing at his family's toy drive. But he thinks the drive's reputation preceded him in them actually coming out to do so.
And after they performed, they got to have hot cocoa with Santa -- the kind of holiday experience that Chieffo grew up loving so much.
Learn more about the Chieffo Family Toy Drive at instagram.com/chieffotoydrive.