Nashua police SWAT team members load the department’s armored vehicle with toys and other gifts that were distributed during last year’s Tactical Christmas.
Nashua police SWAT team members, accompanied by Santa Claus, are greeted with a big smile as they make their rounds delivering toys and other gifts during last year’s Tactical Christmas. The event is celebrating its 10th year.
Nashua police SWAT team members load the department’s armored vehicle with toys and other gifts that were distributed during last year’s Tactical Christmas.
NASHUA — Organizers of A Tactical Christmas, the annual toys and gifts distribution program that helps bring the holiday spirit to local children and families who otherwise may not be able to celebrate, have launched their donation drive for this year’s 10th annual event.
Nashua police SWAT team members, accompanied by Santa Claus, are greeted with a big smile as they make their rounds delivering toys and other gifts during last year’s Tactical Christmas. The event is celebrating its 10th year.
Provided by Nashua PAL
What Nashua PAL Development Director Jen Miller calls “a heartwarming collaboration between Nashua PAL, the Nashua Police Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT), and the Nashua Whole Foods market,” will spend the next couple of weeks collecting toys and gifts in preparation of distribution day, which is Wednesday, Dec. 20.
Miller said people interested in donating to the cause can bring unwrapped gifts or gift cards to businesses hosting toy donation boxes.
They include:
• Best Ford, 579 Amherst St.
• Nashua Whole Foods, 255 Amherst St.
• RD1 Fitness, 32 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack
• Nashua Senior Activity Center, 70 Temple St.
• Nashua Police Department, 28 Officer James Roche Drive
Donors can also bring gifts and gift cards to the Nashua PAL Youth Safe Haven, 52 Ash St., by appointment (call 594-3733), or donate online at nashuapal.com/holidays.
More than 20 families in need have been selected this year. SWAT members, along with Santa and “his badge-wearing elves,” Miller said, will embark on “a special holiday mission,” led by SWAT’s heavy-armor vehicle, and stop at each home on the list to bring “a full holiday feast, an abundance of carefully selected gifts and an overflow of holiday joy,” she added.
Police Officer Ben Stusse, in his fourth year as the Nashua PAL officer, noted that the “magic of the holiday season is about more than just gifts, it’s about creating moments of joy and togetherness.
“Tactical Christmas allows us to give a sense of community, create lasting memories, and bring smiles to the faces of families facing challenges,” Stusse added. “It’s an honor to be part of this initiative.”
