New Brunswick PBA Brings Christmas Early to Kids in New Brunswick

Santa's hanging with the New Brunswick Police this week as part of an annual campaign to bring Christmas to kids around the city.

The New Brunswick PBA #23 annually hosts a gift-giving drive and visits from Santa for local children in the city's day care centers, neighborhoods and hospitals.

On Tuesday, the officers and Santa, played by William Coleman, a juvenile detective with the city police department, visited the Puerto Rican Action Board (PRAB) day care center on Drift Street, patients at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and the Ronald McDonald House on Somerset Street.

Additional visits are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at the Children's Center on Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Catholic Charities on Commercial Avenue, and PRAB's Day Care Center on Liberty Street. Santa will also visit the Raritan Gardens apartment community and the Hope Manor Apartments, according to a press release from the city.

In addition to bags stuffed full of gifts for the patients, the PBA presented a $1,000 check to the Ronald McDonald House. The money was raised during the PBA's annual golf outing, according to the release.

"This goes a long way to help us help the families," said Carol Reynolds, House Manager at the Ronald McDonald House.