Calling all ‘elves’ to help collect Christmas gifts

Holiday toy drive under way at the Five Towns Community Center

Posted

Giving during this holiday season can began at the sixth annual Five Towns Community Center toy drive. Unwrapped toys for boys and girls and gift cards that can be used at local stores can be brought to either the Five Towns Community Center, 270 Lawrence Ave, room 340 at the Lawrence Elementary School at 195 Broadway or Warrior Scholar Martial Arts, the Five Towns Karate Center, located at 298 Lawrence Ave., all in Lawrence.

Gifts will be collected until Dec. 21 and will be distributed throughout the local community by volunteers wearing elf ears and driving sleighs (cars complete with decorative reindeer antlers) according to Sasha Young, an Inwood resident who has volunteered at the community center for seven years. Gifts for children 8 to 14 are most needed, she said.

Young said that she and others are trying to expand their reach by posting the information on Facebook for families that may need a little help around the holidays to contact them. “Christmas is a tough time for a lot of people in this area,” she said. “Parents are struggling and we try to help give kids that magical feeling when they wake up and see gifts under the tree.”


Allison Castagna is the leader of Girl Scout Troop 720, which is helping with the collection and distribution of toys. “There are lots of needy people in the community,” she said. “Some families really rely on us, it can be heartbreaking but we try to make them smile.”

One of the goals of the drive is to help instill the importance of giving back to the community in young children. Dan Segarra, the owner and master instructor of the karate school, explained “It’s a nice opportunity for the children to be givers during the season,” he said. “Help them realize that they’re lucky and not all children are as lucky as they may be. In the martial arts we teach them to be respectful and help other people, so it’s a perfect fit.”

To encourage children to give, Segarra and the Five Towns Karate School will offer a free month of lessons to those who donate at their studio. “Last year we filled up the box we use three times,” Segarra said. “We’re planting the seeds to show them how to give back when they’re older.”

By showing the children that the community is looking out for them, hopefully down the road they’ll do the same for the community. However, for now the main goal is to make sure that as many children have a happy holiday as possible, “I hope that we can know that the kids are happy and that they’ll have something to open up on Christmas morning,” Castagna said. “So they know that they’re loved, not just by their parents and family, but by the entire community.”