On Dec. 5, the annual joint Santa Clara Fire Department and Rudolph & Sletten holiday toy drive made a brighter holiday for many local children. Now in its sixth year, the drive began with a conversation between R&S Project Executive John Elwood and Santa Clara Fire Marshall Steve Silva.
“It was a conversation about families in our community living day to day, trying to survive and just meeting the basic needs for food and shelter,” says Elwood. “Our fire fighters and police officers have firsthand knowledge of the conditions many of these families experience. Some have unselfishly taken money out of their own pockets in an effort to help these families to meet their basic needs. So two guys decided to do something about it.”