Rockfield Manor Hosts Drive-By Toy Drive

BEL AIR, MD — Rockfield Manor is holding a drive-by toy drive Wednesday night in Bel Air.

Santa and the Grinch will be on hand, according to organizers, who said for each toy donated, the Rockfield Manor Foundation will donate one to Toys for Tots.

"We had to completely change this entire event," said Kellee Kalthof, director of operations for Rockfield Manor.

In years past, it attracted 300 to 400 people for a tree lighting and toy drive.

Because the Maryland Department of Health has advised people to avoid gathering in groups of more than 25 people to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Rockfield Manor came up with the drive-by toy drive concept.

"We still wanted to do something," Kalthof said, and "encourage people that just because things are different, don't stop giving — because some people need even more now than they did before."

At least year's event, Kalthof said the community provided more than 365 gifts in two hours.

"We’re hoping to match that, if not beat it, especially due to the circumstances," she told Patch. "Even more people are in need because they lost their jobs."

Toys should be unwrapped, and when people pass them off to staff, "Santa and the Grinch will be there passing out sweet treats from Newberry Café and Crossroads Bistro," said Erika Dickey, operations manager for Rockfield Manor.

"We encourage everyone to please stay in their vehicles and follow social distancing guidelines," Dickey said.

The Rockfield Manor drive-by toy drive is 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

After the toys are collected, the Rockfield Manor Foundation will donate $2,000 to the Toys for Tots of Harford County.

Traditionally, the Harford County landmark has hosted a tree lighting the same night as the Toys for Tots drive. However, the tree was illuminated early this year.

"We can’t have a scheduled tree lighting time because we would have a gathering of people," Kalthof said. To avoid gatherings, she said Rockfield Manor turned on its tree Saturday night when the town of Bel Air flipped the switch on its light display downtown.

"The tree is lit," Kalthof said Wednesday. "You can see it when you come around the bend" on Route 22.

Rockfield's event comes as others have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The town of Bel Air canceled its annual parade and tree lighting, which had been set for Sunday, Dec. 6. Town officials said the decision was made to protect health and safety.

Acting Harford County Health Officer Marcy Austin said the county saw 16 deaths in the past two weeks from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Compared with five deaths reported during the period two weeks before, that marked an increase of 220 percent, Austin said, in a briefing before the Harford County Council Tuesday night.

Harford County has 6,234 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Wednesday, an increase of 74 in the past day, based on data from the Maryland Department of Health.

After one death was reported in the past 24 hours, state health officials reported Wednesday that 100 people in Harford County have now died from the virus.

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