METHUEN — The MeVa bus sighed and its front-end kneeled as the doors flipped opened, making it easier for gift givers to climb aboard.
The curb outside the Target store on Pleasant Street was the second and final stop Friday on the regional transit authority’s Stuff-a-Bus route.
MeVa employees dressed as characters including Buddy the Elf, the Grinch and a couple Gingerbreads, collected toys and jackets for children in need on behalf of the Methuen nonprofit Debbie’s Treasure Chest.
The crew also collected food to be distributed by the Neighbors in Need program, which helps Greater Lawrence families.
Santa Claus, sometimes known as MeVa reservationist Alan Victor, stood outside the bus and clapped his hands for warmth.
The early December breeze was brisk, and the air chilly.
“But this warms our heart — so we’re good,” said Amy Jenkins, MeVa general manager.
Good or not, everybody eventually jumped aboard the nicely heated bus.
MeVa Administrator Noah Berger and Human Resources Director Jaymi Swarbrick, the Stuff-A-Bus event coordinator, said the collection connects its fleet and workers with people in the area they serve.
“I mean, we’re part of the community,” Berger said.
“Yeah, and we want to give back as much as we can,” Swarbrick added. “Give back to those who support us and ride our buses.”
Swarbrick and her crew had decorated the bus interior with lights and icicles and red bows. They set up a faux fireplace and wrapped the poles with tinsel and evergreen.
Boxes and bags were stacked on seats and aisles where, ordinarily, upwards of 50 people ride.
Outside, “Feliz Navidad” and other Christmas and holiday standards played over the sound system.
Inside Target, the store announced the giving event over its intercom, inviting customers to support the effort.
Target store manager Cali Hill and food and beverage manager Arianny Mejia delivered bags of toys to the bus, as did customers.
Target customer Kristie Hugus, owner of nearby Methuen Pediatric Therapy, didn’t hear an announcement while she was shopping but when she came outside she saw the bus.
“I go, ‘Oh, my gosh,’” she said. “So I went right back in.”
She bought three or four toys, five stacks of UNO cards – because kids love the game – and a large boy’s jacket and a large girl’s jacket.
“Because a lot of the older kids get forgotten,” she said.
Jay and Sera McKallagat of Salem, New Hampshire made a special trip to the mall to deliver Barbie and Jurassic Park toys to the Stuff-A-Bus.
“It’s Christmas,” said Jay.
“Yeah, Christmas, the time for giving,” said Sera.
Everyone was in good cheer.
Methuen Police Sgt. Laurie Borrelli and officer Pat Waldron toted bags of gifts the department had collected for Debbie’s Treasure Chest at the police station.
State Rep. Ryan Hamilton, D-15th Essex, joined the caravan, supporting the bus stuffing, chatting up his constituents and fellow volunteers.
By day’s end the MeVa crew collected about 1,000 toys and jackets. These will make up a good chunk of the more than 5,000 toys and coats that Debbie’s Treasure Chest will give to families in need this Christmas season.
Earlier, the 35-foot Stuff-A-Bus, with Gingerbread Niorka Mendez, MeVa deputy administrator, at the wheel, pulled up to the Target store in Haverhill to collect food and gifts.
“We definitely stuffed a bus,” said Joey McDonald of Methuen, a regular transit rider on the MeVa route to Lowell where he studies computer science at UMass Lowell.
He volunteered for the first Stuff-A-Bus collection last year as a student at Methuen High School.
Next Friday, MeVa will deliver the gifts and jackets to Methuen High School, where students will help unload them and carry them into the cafeteria.
The following day, Saturday, Dec. 14, providers from social service agencies and others will arrive and pick up the coats and toys to give to families with children in need.
Debbie’s Treasure Chest was founded in 2007 by the Harvey family, and has grown from its humble origins in the family garage.
The mission remains the same: help those in need, and strengthen lives through giving.
The mission is fulfilled through MeVa, the Methuen Police Department, high school students and all the others who make it happen, says the nonprofit’s executive director, Linda Harvey.