Santa Claus has nothing on Jerry Pinto. Following a groundswell of support throughout the region, the Fill the Bus Toy Drive had a banner year, drawing in more than 1,300 toys for needy families.

The project began five years ago as part of the New Bedford-based anti-bullying initiative, Safe Zones. Pinto, the organization’s founder, works with police departments and educators in the New Bedford school system to collect and distribute toys.

This year marked a big change for Pinto as he expanded the scope of the program outside of his home city. The project officially kicked off at Minuteman Harley-Davidson in Dartmouth on Dec. 5 and continued on Dec. 12 at various locations throughout the area.

“We filled a bus at the Target in Dartmouth. We also filled a bus in Accushnet, Fairhaven and New Bedford,” said Pinto. “We did well. I can’t put words together to what was there in terms of communities connecting together for the same cause.”

A bus driver for the New Bedford school system, Pinto worked with Tremblay's Bus Company, Amaral Bus Company and Reliable Bus Lines as well as local and state police to gather donations.

“One of the biggest things I experienced was, as I drove to each location just to check up on everybody, they all had one in thing in common: unity,” said Pinto. “It wasn’t about New Bedford, Fairhaven or Dartmouth. It was more than the toys. People connected. It didn’t matter if you were a cop, a bus driver or a parent.”

The school system sends his organization a specific number of toy requests, and Pinto’s group bags toys and distributes them to the New Bedford police station. The schools then pick up the bags and hand them out before Christmas.

“I also went out last week and delivered close to 300 toys to St. Vincent’s Home in Fall River. And I went out with cadets from the police department the day before Christmas. We went to St. Luke’s Hospital to the pediatric ward and gave out toys.”

Some of the toys will be held throughout the year. Pinto said Safe Zones could offer presents for a child after a house fire.

“One of the things that we added this year is that police cars are going to have items in it, so when they respond to a domestic violence issue, a police officer can give [children] a toy to comfort them in a time when they need it.”

He said that police can sometimes get a bad reputation with young people and hopes that his organization can help police officers diminish the barrier between law enforcement and the public.

“From the work that I’ve done in the last five weeks working with the police departments, there’s a lot of cops out there that care. It doesn’t matter if it’s Dartmouth, New Bedford, Acushnet or Fairhaven. I formed relationships with all of these departments, and these cops care.”

Expanding the scope of the project was part of Pinto’s five-year plan. Moving forward, Pinto hopes to find a storage space for the toys to help Safe Zones better track their inventory.

“I’m already looking for a warehouse to start storing stuff. We don’t have the money to do it, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

For more information, or to make a donation to Safe Zones, call 508-889-1752 or visit the official website at safezones.org.