RAINE Volunteers Embark On Very Special Delivery (Video)

There were 15 Santas and more than a thousand wrapped presents in a Hazlet school gym on Thursday night. This was delivery night -- the high point of the the annual RAINE Foundation toy drive. The excitement was building.

RAINE stands for Reaching All In Need Everyday. This year, Hazlet parents, schoolchildren and the St. Benedict St. Vincent de Paul Society in Holmdel helped the organization provide gifts to more than 300 families who are having a tough go of it this holiday season.

Inside Beers Street School in Hazlet, organizers pored over delivery sheets and routes, and volunteers put finishing touches on specially selected and carefully wrapped gifts for families. 

Outside standing ready to escort their man in the red suit were the volunteer fire companies from Holmdel, Hazlet, West Keansburg, and North Centerville. Santa Claus would be hand-delivering gifts to families that had made the special request. (Other families would come on their own to pick up their reserved gifts.) Trailing behind them were the support vehicle packed with presents. Straub sent eight vans, and Remsen GMC provided ten trucks to help the volunteers.

Watch the video to see how months of planning and fundraising came together.