Thirty years ago, a rookie NYPD cop saved Christmas by reaching into his own pocket to help a Brooklyn burglary victim whose kids’ presents were stolen by a heartless Grinch.
Don Costello’s 1982 act of kindness has morphed into the city’s biggest toy giveaway, one that will be celebrated tonight at the 30th annual Children’s Christmas Benefit, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village.
About 600 guests are expected to appear with new toys or games, which will be redistributed to victims of Hurricane Sandy.
In 1982, Costello, a rookie cop in Brooklyn, took a burglary report from a divorced Brooklyn bus driver whose apartment was ransacked — and wound up buying replacement toys for the devastated dad’s kids.
This year’s collection of toys is so large, he needs a 17-foot trailer to collect them, with most headed to hard-hit residents of the Rockaways and Queens.