Zmuni Flournoy, 9, didn’t know the man handing her an early Christmas present yesterday was the Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau. All she knew was that when she reached into a Christmas bag and pulled out a toy, it was exactly what she had been hoping for: a teacher Barbie, sensibly dressed and complete with books and teaching aids.

Zmuni, at 4 feet tall, was one of 284 children who gathered at the Police Athletic League Center in Harlem to receive presents that had been collected for them by the district attorney’s office as part of its annual Christmas toy drive. “It is just what I wanted,” Zmuni said politely, as she posed for photographs with Santa and Mr. Morgenthau.

Eight-year-old Christian Fernandez reached into a bag and pulled out some Batten Turbo Tops and burst into a big, gap-toothed grin. “These are cool,” he said quietly. He had barely thanked the district attorney before his friends had gathered around him to try to barter for at least one of his Turbo Tops.

Mr. Morgenthau’s Secret Santa role is one of his more pleasant responsibilities as chairman of the board of the Police Athletic League, the city’s largest nonprofit, independent youth organization. The PAL serves about 70,000 New York City boys and girls by providing recreational, educational, cultural, and social programs that are aimed at keeping children busy, and out of trouble, after school. Mr. Morgenthau has been involved with the organization for 40 years.

The city’s chief of special prosecutions, Leroy Frazer, was in charge of this year’s toy drive for the Harlem center. There were some worrying moments, he said, when it appeared there would not be enough Barbie dolls for the girls who wanted them, but, in the end, the group collected 284 toys, precisely the number needed for each and every child at the Harlem facility.

“One way or another, we get the toys we need,” Mr. Frazer said as the children began ripping into the new presents. “How can this not make you feel great?”