The Wareham Police Department will be stuffing a police cruiser this weekend, but not with criminals... with toys for children!

Police cruisers will be parked in front of Walmart in East Wareham and Target in West Wareham on Sunday, December 11 for the department's second annual Stuff-a-Cruiser event, to be held from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Officers will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the Dick Melloni Youth Foundation's annual Christmas toy drive. At the inaugural event last year, the Wareham Police Department collected more than four truck loads of gifts for the foundation.

"We're going to try to double it this year!" said Wareham Police Officer Karl Baptiste, who is coordinating the collection.

The police officers donate their time to collect the toys outside the stores, load them into pick-up trucks, and deliver them to the foundation. The police cruiser attracts the attention of shoppers, many of whom are excited to watch it fill up.

"Anyone that asked about [the event], they came out with something," Baptiste remembered.

And police even saw some familiar faces.

"People that we've had incidents with were going into the store, donating things, and putting it in the cruiser," Baptiste said with a smile.

Last year the police collected everything from dolls to sporting equipment to board games and even a bicycle, making so many trips with trucks full of toys that they lost count!

This year, Stuff-a-Cruiser coincides with Wareham Crossing's Holiday Happenings, which features events for children throughout the shopping center from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

"Come out and support," Baptiste asked, adding that any donation helps. "Give whatever you can give."

The Dick Melloni Youth Foundation is named for Richard H. Melloni, a former Wareham fire chief who died suddenly in 1993. It was formed to support the health and education of area youth. The toys collected from its annual drive are distributed to children in both Wareham and Onset.