A leather-clad tatted Santa from La Familia Motorcycle Club handed out presents at the Nichols Fire department on Sunday, Dec. 23, for Toys for Tots of Tioga County.
Brad Bartholomew, president of the Tioga County chapter of La Familia Motorcycle Club (MC) said that this is the fifth year the club has helped with the Tioga County Toys for Tots and its first year in Nichols.
Bartholomew and Robert Miner, Nichols Fire Department chief, hope for Nichols to be a permanent location for the club’s annual volunteering.
The National President of La Familia was dressed as the big man handing out presents in the back of the club’s blue school bus filled with donations. Inside the Nichols Fire Department, guests warmed up with coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts provided by Kim’s Diner with some space to play with new toys.
All toys and donations were collected through Toys for Tots collections bins from around the county, including other collaborating motorcycle clubs.
Kim Blackwell, the local coordinating officer for Toys for Tots of Tioga County who is a part of a motorcycle club himself, is glad to make a difference in the community. He excitedly reports that Toys for Tots as a national organization was started by the marines in 1942 and makes sure that 97 percent of all of the donations, whether it be toys or money, stays within the county it was donated.
“We can’t give out Xboxes and iPhones, but everyone is happy,” Bartholomew said.
Blackwell says that in Tioga County there were 1,900 requests for toys from the organization. A number, he says, that has gone down compared to previous years, which shows that fewer families are in need.
By being involved in the community, Bartholomew hopes to break the stereotypes surrounding motorcycle clubs further.
Miner had to present the idea of hosting the club’s event at the firehouse to the board, where he received some resistance, but it has proven to be a good partnership he said.
“We have motorcycles, tattoos and we’re handing out toys to people,” Bartholomew said. “Everybody goes home happy.”
Be the first to comment on "Christmas arrives early in Nichols"