Laura Glesby Photo
King, Ivy, and Kiara show off their new toys.
“I don’t put up a tree,” said Paula Pouncey. “I stopped buying presents.” She wasn’t planning to do anything for Christmas.
Then Hill Alder Angel Hubbard left a flyer by her front door.
District Manager Jasmine Sanders with a seemingly endless supply of toys.
The flyer, which advertised a neighborhood toy and grocery giveaway in honor of the winter holidays, led Pouncey to the Hallock Street police substation on Sunday afternoon — alongside 414 other Hill families who made the trek through the frigid December cold.
Pouncey was excited for the collard greens. She was even more glad for the moment of neighborhood connection in what has sometimes been a challenging holiday season.
Hubbard had organized the giveaway alongside the New Haven Police Department’s Hill district manager, Sgt. Jasmine Sanders.
“I try to do something for every holiday,” Sanders said. “I come in contact with a lot of families” in need of some extra support. The events are a way of “giving back” — and they “help with the relationship with the Police Department,” Sanders said. “It helps them see us as humans.”
Sanders had laid out a massive array of toys — ranging from dolls to remote-controlled cars to the ever-popular LEGOs — most of which she’d purchased using her police district’s budget. Kenneth Redding, of Hamden’s Best Choice Barber Shop, donated items such as sunglasses and earphones geared toward older kids. Each kid could pick out one toy to take home.
Once siblings Ivy, Kiara, and King selected their toys from the table, they eagerly showed each other what they’d found.
7‑year-old King had chosen a yellow toy car.
12-year-old Kiara had picked a doll who came with several changeable outfits. “I’m gonna play with this as soon as I get home!” she beamed.
And 15-year-old Ivy said she decided on a pink pretend beauty set to give her 2‑year-old niece, who’s “obsessed with makeup.”
They made their way to the next room inside the substation, where Hubbard took the lead on groceries. Hubbard purchased and packed bags upon bags of food with the help of her kids.
She got financial support for the event from Next Level Empowerment Program, Chuck & Eddie’s Used Auto Parts, the Board of Alders Black and Hispanic Caucus, Yale’s Office of New Haven Affairs, Local 34, and COGIC.
Each family received one package of poultry as well as two bags, which included potatoes, boxed mac and cheese, rice, cake mix, and collard greens, among other items.
Residents of Hubbard’s ward got priority for the items, but the giveaway had enough supplies for other neighbors who showed up.
Christmas often brings up complicated feelings for Pouncey, who lost her husband a few years ago.
“My son has special needs,” she said. He hasn’t always been treated as a full person at Christmas gatherings throughout his nearly 40 years. Pouncey grew tired of people leaving him out during Christmas gift exchanges, so she no longer does much to celebrate the holiday.
When Pouncey saw the flyer that Hubbard left on her door, that simple act of reaching out felt meaningful.
Hubbard, who took office in a special election early this fall, had first met Pouncey while knocking on neighborhood doors to register voters this summer. After that, she became someone Pouncey felt comfortable reaching out to whenever she had a concern about the neighborhood.
“For her to personally leave a flyer on my door — she was thinking of me,” Pouncey said. “I thought that was really nice. We just met when she was registering me to vote.”
She is, now, planning to cook for her son using the groceries in Sunday’s bags.
Meanwhile, for Hubbard, the giveaway brought a sense of purpose to a winter that’s been hard for other reasons. She recently lost a sister to cancer, and she put the event together through a period of grief.
“I really needed this,” she said. “I feel her here.”
On Sunday, she hadn’t yet bought the tree and gifts for her own family; those were tasks for Monday, she said.
For now, she was constantly in motion, ensuring that bags were replenished and families were staying warm. She was surrounded by family, friends, and even some of her Hill colleagues on the Board of Alders, who volunteered to help out.
Paula Pouncey.
Alder Angel Hubbard hands out grocery bags.