Westmoreland Blue Knights chapter collects toys for foster children, families
On Dec. 17, tables along the walls of the Youngwood Fire Hall will be filled with toys that will be gifts for foster children.
Law enforcement officers from Westmoreland and Fayette counties are gearing up for their fifth annual toy drive for foster families. The amount of support the initiative has received since its inception in 2018 is overwhelming, said Irvin Shipley, president of the Westmoreland Blue Knights chapter.
The Blue Knights is a national organization consisting of 60,000 current and retired law enforcement officers. The Westmoreland County chapter includes detectives from the county district attorney and Pennsylvania attorney general’s offices, state and local police officers and employees from the sheriff’s office, Shipley said.
The chapter’s toy drive started in 2018. Since then, it has provided toys to hundreds of foster children and families each year.
In mid-December, the collection period closes and foster families are invited to an event where they can enjoy a free meal and pick from the selection of toys. Attendees are also entered into a raffle for a family prize, such as a video game console, television or dinner and movie night.
About 400 people attended last year. The foster families are identified by the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau — which provides resources for foster care and child abuse prevention — and its advisory board, Westmoreland Children First.
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Collaboratively, both organizations assist more than 1,000 children per year, according to the Westmoreland Children First website. Board member Bill Bretz of Hempfield — who also serves as secretary for the Hempfield supervisors — said families always speak highly of the toy drive and distribution event.
“The Blue Knights do a wonderful job of reaching out to folks in the community, and business owners are very generous with their donations of food and toys,” Bretz said.
The chapter would not be able to run the toy drive on its own, Shipley said.
“You know how Westmoreland is — they answer the call anytime someone’s in need,” said Shipley of Youngwood.
About 30 to 40 local businesses are helping collect toys and cash donations for the drive, including Carson’s Tavern and JJ’s Pizza in Scottdale. Abie and Bimbo’s Pizza in Greensburg caters the distribution event free of charge.
The Crafty Shack, a ceramics and art studio in Penn Township, got connected with the toy drive last year. When employee Nicole Salandro informed owner Carrie Schramm of the toy drive, she knew she wanted to help.
“I was like ‘What? Why aren’t we helping?’ ” said Schramm of Penn Township.
Schramm was inspired to help by a friend who fostered children.
“I saw all that she tried to do for the kids that she fostered or things that she tried to make available for them, and it’s not always easy to come up with that extra money,” Schramm said. “It meant a lot to me to watch her do that and to see how much she loved those kids that she helped raise and how much they appreciated and loved her in return.”
Last year, it took four truckloads to deliver toys from the Crafty Shack to the chapter’s office in Youngwood, Schramm said. She hopes to bring in even more this year.
Shipley has a similar goal.
“When you take a child in, some of these (foster) families, they’re doing it out of the kindness of their heart,” Shipley said. “Just because they want to help, it doesn’t mean that they are financially able to. Some of the families are, but we want to make sure that each child … has a great Christmas.”
Quincey Reese is a TribLive reporter covering the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She also does reporting for the Penn-Trafford Star. A Penn Township native, she joined the Trib in 2023 after working as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the company for two summers. She can be reached at qreese@triblive.com.
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