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Organizers and volunteers of the Asbury Park Toy Drive gave out donated toys and clothes to over 400 area families on the Asbury Park boardwalk Saturday.

The drive, now in its 15th season, collected “a good 5,000” toys, according to founder Connie Breech, a sergeant with the city’s police department and a member of the Asbury Park Board of Education.

Boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette donated space in the Fourth Avenue Pavilion for Breech and her crew to collect, store, organize, and bag the toys for families to pick up. Hundreds of children showed up to the new location with their parents on Saturday to get their pictures taken with Santa and grab their gifts.

“The kids got right into it and went right up to Santa,” she said.

[Click here to see photos from the event.]

Previously, Breech would haul all of the toys and clothes to City Hall for the giveaway.

“It was a really nice event, I’m e extremely proud of the way it went,” she said.

The Windmill hot dog restaurant on Main Street donated food, Pepsico donated soda and water, and McDonalds gave Breech seven cases of Happy Meal toys for the kids to pick when they showed up, Breech said.

Breech and her volunteers try to ensure all of the children on the list get at least two toys, and they throw in board games and gift cards for full-family applications.

In the first year, Breech gathered enough donations for about 80 Asbury Park families. Ten years ago, there were so many families that requested toys she had to start an application process. For this year’s drive, 430 families made the cut, a surprisingly large number, however the total was less than last year, Breech said. It is the first time in seven or eight years that the number declined from the previous year’s total.

She attributed the decline to a sign the economy is getting better as well as decrease in the number of the city’s low-income families now that the Boston Way Village Housing complex is empty. Low income families and residents were re-located from the site after it was approved for demolition last year.

After Saturday, she had only two coats left and is still receiving toy donations which she will bring to the Community Affairs and Resource Center (formerly the Hispanic Affairs and Resource Center) for families who celebrate Three Kings Day.

“Nothing will go unused, all of it will be handed out,” she said.

After 15 seasons, Breech remains grateful the city’s residents and business community help come together to make the event possible.

“I just want to say thank you to all of the supporters, and for Madison Marquette getting the space this year. [The toy drive] has a huge impact on everyone’s attitude and I can’e express how grateful I am,” she said.

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