By Danielle Smith
Leader Staff Writer

As parade goers are making plans to watch this local Christmas tradition make its way down Washington St., the Oxford Village Police Department is encouraging attendees to not only bring their families, but a little something extra.
For the second year, Village PD will have their Chevy Tahoe out and about, ready to be filled with new, unwrapped toys that will be donated to the Marine Corps Toys for Tots, a program founded in 1947, providing gifts to children that are less fortunate. According to their website, Toys for Tots has provided 258 million children with 566 million toys to date.
This year, the Tahoe will be parked outside of Funky Monkey Toys, located at 5 N. Washington St., from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 7, the day of the Christmas parade. Funky Monkey is also offering a 10 percent discount on toys that are purchased from the store to fill the Tahoe.
“I’m always trying to think of some ways that we can go above and beyond,” said Oxford Village Police Chief Mike Solwold in reference to the Tahoe. After hearing of other agencies filling vehicles with toys, Solwold thought it would be a great idea for his department to do the same, in addition to the traditional drop-off box donations.
“Anything that we get, I always give 50 percent to the (Oxford Chamber of Commerce),” Solwold said. “We represent the chamber, we represent youth assistance, we represent Oxford. If anybody needs anything, we always try to jump in and help out. This isn’t just about us and Oxford PD, this is about the community. We’ll help anybody that needs it.”
For those unable to attend the parade this Saturday and would like to contribute to the cause, the police department as well as the chamber offices, located at 22 W. Burdick St., will have their donation boxes out until Dec. 18. Everyone is encouraged to drop off toys from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.