December 13, 2011 - Houston Police Chief Charles A. McClelland, Jr., HPD's Blue Santa and Houston Texans Pro-Bowl wide receiver Andre Johnson today surprised hundreds of elementary school students with Christmas gifts.

Andre Johnson partnered with Blue Santa Houston to raise funds and awareness of children in need and to provide toys to them. Blue Santa Houston provided toys for every student, about 800 total, at Bastian Elementary, which is a Houston-area school adopted by The Andre Johnson Foundation.

As a special surprise, the 60 top performing students also received bicycles and helmets from Academy Sports and Outdoors.

"This is a great time of year for the Houston Police Department," said Chief McClelland. "This program grew out of a need to give underprivileged kids toys for Christmas. We certainly want to thank Andre Johnson for taking time out of his day to partner with us," added Chief McClelland.

Blue Santa Houston is a State of Texas 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing toys to as many underprivileged children in the Houston area as possible. The program depends on donations from generous Houston police officers, sponsors and private contributors.

Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor or wishing to make a donation is asked to contact HPD Officer Martha Bailey at the Blue Santa Hotline at 713-247-8730.