KENMORE, N.Y. — In the spirit of giving and holiday cheer, Kenmore volunteer firefighters and other local volunteers are preparing for their annual Christmas drive.
The volunteers are putting together baskets of food and toys to deliver to families in the community.
For the last 50 years, the Kenmore Fire Department has collected food and in the past 20 years, they've started to collected toys to give out to the community. This year, they are giving away 100 baskets for local families that may need an extra help this season.
Richard Ruby is a fireman at the Kenmore Volunteer Fire Department. He's also a chairman of this Christmas basket committee.
He said there's been some great stories that come from this drive throughout the years. One time there was a group of police officers who were making a delivery to a home, in that home there was a mother with several kids. The family had their refrigerator die recently and this is what he says happened next.
"She felt bad, but she said, 'I'm sorry I can't accept that.' So the gentleman were very nice about saying ok no problem. And then, they secretly went to Home Dept and bought a refrigerator freezer for her, delivered it, gave her the Christmas basket and wished her a Merry Christmas and went on their way. So we had some great stories like that happen over the years and it just makes you feel good what you are doing in regards to this effort that we do," Ruby said.
He said that giving back to the community will always be their top priority.
Kenmore Fire and other local organizations hosts fundraisers throughout the year to be able to supply the food and buy gifts for the families.