Santa uses GPS Tracker to help Tolland Fire Department Gather Toys

TOLLAND, Conn. (Nov. 25, 2014) – Tolland Fire Department will host Santa Claus as he travels through the community gathering gifts for children in need aboard his custom-built sleigh and escorted by the department’s firefighting rigs.

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings between Nov. 29 and Dec. 21, residents of the community can follow Santa’s every turn with their mobile devices. Residents are encouraged to meet Santa on his route with gift and toy donations benefiting the under-privileged families in the Tolland area.

The department is looking for unwrapped, new, in-the-box gifts for children. Tolland Fire Department works with Tolland Human Services Department to fulfill the needs of the Tolland community first. Then the remaining gifts are distributed to surrounding communities. According to the Tolland Fire Department, between 300 and 500 gifts are annually gathered for children of all ages and sizes.

“It’s really all about the kids”, says Tolland’s Fire Chief Littell. “Every toy collected and every smile delivered is a win for all of us. It just makes our small town that much closer to family.”

Santa has been gathering gift for more than 13 years and will gather roughly 2,000 gifts during this year’s Holiday Lights Tour for distribution by the Tolland Fire Department. “We started after 9/11 to raise people’s spirits and it’s taken off from there,” said Adam Conner, Santa’s Sleigh driver.

The Tolland Fire Department, Inc. (http://www.tollandfire.org) has provided fire protection for Tolland, Conn. since 1933. Today, the men and women who volunteer their services as firefighters, emergency medical technicians, medical response technicians and fire police officers work closely with six paid firefighters/EMTs in a modern combination department providing the highest possible level of fire, ambulance and emergency medical service for the town’s residents and businesses.

US Fleet Tracking, located in Oklahoma City, is the leader in live vehicle and asset tracking, providing groundbreaking sub-ten-second live tracking. In addition to expertise in tracking commercial vehicles, the company has provided tracking services to high profile, large-scale public events. These include the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, 2012 Republican National Convention, Super Bowls XLI through XLVII, and the 2010 Winter Olympics. For more in-depth details, and to access a live demonstration of US Fleet Tracking’s system while in motion, visit https://www.usfleettracking.com.

###