Boys & Girls Club gets bounty of gifts from police, local business
WOONSOCKET – Christmas came three days early to the Teen Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Woonsocket and playing the role of Santa Claus were a city patrol officer and a local businessman.
Woonsocket Police Patrolman Joe Brazil and John Bergeron, president of Johnny’s Home Furnishings together donated a bounty of gifts to the teens at the Kendrick Avenue center, from a new couch and television to video game systems and sports equipment.
Brazil raised $800 by selling Christmas trees on Cumberland Hill Road during the holiday season, which he used to purchase XBox One and PlayStation 4 video game consoles and basketballs, footballs, hockey sticks, and nets. Bergeron, meanwhile, donated $2,000 in furniture and a wide-screen high-definition television for the youths.
Brazil, who previously served as the School Resource Officer at Woonsocket Middle School, said that he established strong relationships with the kids and after his tenure as SRO expired, he wanted to stay involved with them.
“It means a great deal to me, it’s very important to me that the youth have a safe and positive place,” Brazil said.
“Here at the Teen Center, they provide a great place. It’s better that they have more teens who want to come. The more here, the less on the street without that good, positive influence.”
Edward Jones, an employee at the Teen Center, explained that it was “really, really great” and “awesome” to see the city’s police and business communities come together to benefit the city’s teenagers.
“I can’t put it into words. The kids are ecstatic, they’re always excited when they get a new game, so they’ll be so excited,” he said mere moments before the teens arrived at the Center on Friday afternoon. “It’s a great place for teens to be. There’s so much negativity, but this is a great place to socialize and develop.”
Sure enough, as the teens started entering the third floor of the Boys & Girls Club building, they were wowed by the new sofa, television, chairs, and video game systems.
Bonnie Piekarski, director of program development with the Boys & Girls Club of Woonsocket, added that she was “overwhelmed” by the donations from Brazil and Bergeron. When she presented Brazil with a plaque thanking him for his efforts, she became overcome with emotions, with a few tears welling in her eyes.
“Especially from law enforcement, this means a lot,” Piekarski said. “Joe is building a bridge with the kids. They see a lot of negativity, but he’s done a lot of work to build a bridge and for them to see there are good guys out there.”
Brazil echoed the sentiment.
“The idea was to build that relationship, from teens and law enforcement as a whole. That’s one of the goals, to build that relationship between law enforcement and the city’s youth,” he said.