Bags of toys, games, books, and many other Christmas gifts are being unpacked by William Rivas at the COCOA house in Schenectady.

 

What You Need To Know

  • The annual event is organized by Save Our Streets

  • This will be the sixth year of the Random Santa Drop-Offs

  • Stops will be made in Schenectady, Albany, and Troy

“That’s for Chadwick,” said Rivas, as he pulls out a Black Panther action figure.

These are gifts that will be handed out to children in Schenectady, Albany, and Troy on Christmas Eve. This is the sixth year Rivas and his organization Save Our Streets will be doing the Random Santa Drop-Offs.

“We’re doing the best that we can but we a lot of great supporters,” Rivas said.

This year, Rivas estimates to collect about $10,000 worth of gifts. He’s raised most of it so far.

 

Organizations like Toys for Tots and the City Mission has chipped in with gifts.

“We got about 40 kids that we’re picking up gifts for, quite a lot,” said Alfredo Smalls, the co-founder of Save Our Streets.

On this Wednesday afternoon, Smalls and Rivas are picking up gifts at the City Mission. While this takes a lot of time and effort, the pair has a blast doing it.

“Oh my gosh. They’re going to love that,” said Smalls, as he picks up a box filled with Marvel action figures.

It’s been a tough year for a lot of people, which is why they say even in a pandemic they still wanted to be there for the community. For Smalls, this is one of his favorite times of the year.

“Just watching everybody’s faces and their smiles and how happy they are, a lot of people are going through a lot of things so to be able to do this is wonderful,” Smalls said.

For anyone looking to help, donations are being collected through December 20th.

It can be dropped off at City Hall, Saratoga National Bank on State Street, the COCOA House, or Red Door Beauty & Wellness.

Here are the drop-off times and locations on Christmas Eve:

Schenectady

9:30a.m. Joe Allen Apartments
10a.m. C.O.C.O.A. House
10:30a.m. Boys and Girls Club
11a.m. Steinmetz Homes
11:30am Yates Village
Noon Proctor’s

Albany

1p.m. First Street and Quail Street
1:30p.m. Second Street and Judson Street
2p.m. Elizabeth Street and Alexander Street
2:30pm. Grand Street Arts Center

Troy

4p.m. Team HERO Headquarters