Island Park ‘Christmas Angels’

Over the past 30 years, they’ve come to be known as Island Park’s Christmas Angels, bringing gifts to children who otherwise wouldn’t have any.

In reality, they are very human. They’re educators, administrators, custodians, bus drivers — the staff of the Island Park School District. And each holiday season for the past 30 years, it has been their mission to make sure everyone in Island Park has a Christmas.

“We know that there are some kids that are in need,” said Patty Collins, a teacher at Lincoln Orens Middle School who runs the district’s Adopt-a-Family program. “There may be some families that are really struggling. We’ve had parents say in the past that their kids weren’t going to have a Christmas.”

The program started about 30 years ago, when some teachers and staff in the schools noticed that some students weren’t as well-off as others. The staff banded together and got a Christmas for those students. The tradition has continued since then.

“We’ve helped anywhere from 10 to 30 families a year,” said Collins. “Sometimes it’s just a family for a year, sometimes it’s been families for two or three years.”

Each year, in lieu of giving cards or gifts to each other, each staff member of the Island Park School District donates $10 to the cause, raising about $1,000 from the start that way. Then staff members will purchase clothes and toys for children that are kept anonymous. The only people who know who the names of the families are the nurses, who tend to identify the students, and Marion Toby, the district’s transportation director, who is in charge of delivering the gifts.

“I know the names and addresses because I have to take it to the students’ houses, but nobody else knows,” said Toby. “It’s done by Family A, Family B, Family C.”

In recent years, the nurses will ask the families to have the children write a letter to Santa Claus, which winds up with the staff at the school so they have an idea what the children want. “So this way,” Collins explained, “if a child really wants a toy race car, we can try and get them what’s on the list.”

After all the gifts are collected, they are brought to the transportation department’s break room, where all the bus drivers, or the “elves,” as Toby calls them, wraps the presents and then sends them out for delivery, the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas.

“I’m just happy I can do it,” said Toby. “I’m glad to help anybody that needs help.”

Community members can get involved, too. If you’re interested in buying clothes or gifts for a needy Island Park child, contact Patty Collins or Marion Toby by calling the school district offices at 431-8100.