Breakin at Santa’s Last Stop does not deter East End volunteers

BRIDGEPORT — Santa was robbed. More specifically, his traditional last stop on Christmas morning was the target: the East End Community Center on Stratford Avenue which for years has been the goto place to pick up a toy when Santa couldn’t make it down the chimney.

Someone smashed the store front window overnight on Christmas Eve, and made off with an unspecified number of toys, most of them electronic, according to Keith Williams, who is in charge of the annual giveaway.

As moms, dads and young children lined up on one side of the building for the promised 9 a.m. opening, organizers of the event — many in Santa regalia — stood surveying the damage on the other side. A large shard of glass still hung from the door until someone pulled it off.

Santa’s helpers were on their cellphones. Community officials started descending on the spot, promising support. The response was tremendous.

By noon, organizers were urging parents to come down and get their children toys.

City Council members Ernie Newton and Eneida Martinez, who both represent the 139th District, along with John Ferguson of Wonderland of Ice, were among the first to show up. Ferguson pledged to replace some of lost toys with a $1,000 donation.

The toys came by the truckload. “This is what Bridgeport is all about,” said Wanda Simmon, who traditionally plays the roll of Mrs. Claus.

“This is crazy,” said Cheryl Thompson, who lives nearby and came for her grandchildren.

Santa's Last Stop has been an East

End tradition for years. Many of the donations come from area businesses and Bridgeport Hospital. Most are toys meant for young kids — footballs, Playdoh, action figures and Legos. A smaller portion of gifts, intended for older kids, are electronics. Those were the toys targeted in the breakin, said Williams, a firefighter who had just gotten off work when a volunteer notified him ofthetheft.

“All the scooters, head phones, the cars,” Williams said. “I think when they came in,(the thieves) started picking through it. I had just went and bought a lot of the remote control helicopters and stuff. They took mostly the good stuff.”

“I understand times are hard, but who would rob Santa?” Williams added. “This is for the community. It’s just a bad thing that this had to happen.”

Elizabeth Robinson, a volunteer, said the breakin would not deter the effort.