Free toy giveaway planned in Toms River

TOMS RIVER - It will be a holiday in July on Sunday in Toms River, with a truckload of free toys available for kids at the RWJBarnabas Health Field of Dreams on Bay Avenue.

The toy giveaway is sponsored by the Toms River Jewish Community Council, the Toms River Police Foundation, Toys for Tots and World of Giving, a Spring Valley, N.Y.-based charity that distributes goods from three warehouses it operates, including one in Lakewood.

"We literally have a tractor-trailer load of toys we will be giving out," said Booky Kaluszyner, a Toms River Jewish Community Council leader. "… We're going to give back to the community a little."

The toy giveaway will happen from noon to 2 p.m. at the Field of Dreams, the park for people with disabilities that opened in Toms River last year. It's located at 1505 North Bay Ave.

Otter-ly adorable: Otters surprise onlookers in Belmar

All toys are new, unopened and in the original packaging. No purchase is required to receive a toy, which will be distributed on a first come, first served basis.

The township's police foundation supports police through the purchase of equipment, and also provides funding for community initiatives, like the department's annual police youth camp for teenagers, Neighborhood Watch and Operation Brain Freeze, in which police officers give kids a coupon for a free ice cream cup or cone for wearing their bicycle helmets.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 39 years.  She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Free toy giveaway Sunday in Toms River