Page 18 - December 2015

by Kerra Huchowski

The Birth of “Fill the Cruiser” Day

In the fall of 2010, members of the Office of Media Relations were developing ideas for greater positive press. Sergeant Michael Popovics
remembered seeing a turkey drive, where people would purchase a turkey and donate it to those in need. Using the idea of the turkey
drive, Sergeant Popoivcs came up with a suggestion of “Stuff the Cruiser.” Instead of turkeys, the suggestion of stuffing the cruiser with
toys for needy children was born. The Department for many years had already assisted the United States Marine Corps with its Toys for
Tots program, and the idea of filling a cruiser with toys was seen as a fresh idea to further that effort.

Sergeant Popovics also had the idea of partnering with Toys R Us, a national sponsor of Toys for Tots. After a further modification, the
words “Fill the Cruiser” was born. The late Lieutenant Matthew Murray was instrumental in developing the idea further and assisted
greatly with the logistics for the first “Fill the Cruiser” event. Lt. Murray had promotional posters made to put at the front of the parti-
ciating Toys R Us stores, organized the media coverage, and solicited all-volunteer staffing from Massachusetts State Police members.

Sergeant Popovics fondly remembers the first year of the “Fill the Cruiser” campaign at the Kingston Toys R Us. “It was great to interact
with the public in a positive way,” he recalled. Troopers opened the doors of their cruiser and allowed kids to climb inside and play with
the lights and sirens. At one point a fully assembled bike was placed on the roof of a cruiser. Across the state, there were stories of people
who donated in memory of someone they lost, donating to teach their children the importance of giving to others, and donating simply
because they thought it was the right thing to do.

In that first year of the “Fill the Cruiser” campaign, there were five Toys R Us-sponsored “Fill the Cruiser” locations and there were ap-
proximately 3,200 toys donated to Toys for Tots. Last year there were ten locations and 6,508 toys donated to Toys for Tots. This years
“Fill the Cruiser” will take place at 10 Toys R Us locations across Massachusetts on December 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Auburn, Dedham,
Framingham, Kingston, Northborough, North Dartmouth, Peabody, Springfield, Swansea, and Woburn.

The numbers of toys collected each year at the “Fill the Cruiser” event.

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