Donated by 82 tenants in the Miramar Park of Commerce, the toys will be gifted to underserved children by the Miramar Police Department’s Operation Blue Squad
This year, Sunbeam Properties & Development put a new spin on its annual toy drive. With the theme of ‘Saving Christmas,’ the Sunbeam Polar Express assembled Santa, Mrs. Claus and a team of superheroes to collect toy donations from tenants in the Miramar Park of Commerce, the largest locally owned and managed business park in South Florida.
With a full police escort of multiple squad cards and a fully armored truck, the Sunbeam Polar Express, a procession of vehicles decked in holiday décor, rolled into the Miramar Police Station with thousands of toys donated by 82 tenants in the Park. Uniformed officers were on stand-by to help Wonder Woman, Spiderman, Batman and others unload the boxes, which took up every inch of available space.
The toys will be delivered by Operation Blue Squad to brighten the holidays of underserved children throughout the city. A special delivery will be made to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital on Christmas Eve, bringing cheer to young patients spending the holidays at the pediatric hospital.
“The support for this year’s Sunbeam Polar Express was unparalleled. We had more tenants and more gifts than ever before,” said Sunbeam Properties Vice President Maridee Bell, who was dressed as Mrs. Claus. “It’s truly overwhelming to see such generosity, particularly during the holiday season. Knowing the impact these gifts will have on the underserved children in our community is so incredibly rewarding. We are honored and humbled to organize the Sunbeam Polar Express again this year.”
2018 marks the third consecutive year that Sunbeam Properties & Development has conducted the Sunbeam Polar Express. Sunbeam Properties plans to continue the charitable initiative well into the future.
On the heels of the Sunbeam Polar Express, the company further celebrated the season of giving by making its 10th annual contribution to the Miramar Police Athletic League’s Hangin’ with 5-0, a free, six-week summer camp and life-changing program for at-risk youth in Miramar. The program was almost eliminated by budget cuts in 2008, but was kept alive thanks to Sunbeam Properties’ continued support, which enables more than 80 students ages nine to 14 to participate in the summer camp each year at no cost and helps bridge the gap between police officers and local youth.
In addition to the Sunbeam Polar Express and Hangin’ with 5-0, Sunbeam Properties & Development supports the City of Miramar through other nonprofit organizations, having donated resources for the Ansin Sports Complex and the Ansin Family Gallery in the Miramar Cultural Center. The Miramar Park of Commerce has also been the site for supply drives for America’s Moms for Soldiers, toy drives for Miramar children in need, and a food drive for the United Way of Broward County.
(first row) Henry Dixon, Saeed Ali and Craig Johnson as Ninja Turtles, (second row) Miramar Chief of Police Dexter Williams, Sunbeam Properties Vice President Maridee Bell as Mrs. Claus, Chris Bruce as Santa, Consilio Attorney Matt Gohrig as Buddy the Elf, Wini Smith as Wolverine, Sunbeam Properties Executive Vice President Jim Goggins, Seth Bortunk as Dreidel Man, Sorangel Jorge as Wonder Woman, Lauren Pace as a Power Ranger, Kerry Haydar as Poison Ivy, Gina Jaramillo as Bat Girl, (third row) Frankie Lacayo, Jacob Wood as Spiderman and Donna Gonzalez as Super Woman in front of the Sunbeam Polar Express
About Miramar Park of Commerce
Since breaking ground in 1984, Sunbeam has developed the Miramar Park of Commerce into the largest locally owned and managed Business Park in South Florida, with over five million square feet of office/service, laboratory, pharmacy, light manufacturing and distribution space. The world class Park is home to more than 10,000 employees from more than 180 national and international companies including GE, Siemens, Tommy Hilfiger, Neiman Marcus, Humana, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, Quest Diagnostics, Toyota, Rolls Royce Commercial Marine, Stanley Black & Decker, Pepperidge Farm and Nissan. Flex/office space, corporate build-to-suits as well as a limited number of second-generation spaces are available in the Park. For more information, contact Lauren Pace (lpace@wsvn.com) or Maridee Bell (mbell@wsvn.com) at 10212 USA Today Way, Miramar, FL 33025 or call 954-450-7900.