Barra looks to spread joy with toys

Assemblyman Bob Barra held his annual Toys for Tots drive to bring a some Christmas cheer to local children.

Several area schools and local businesses served as collection spots, along with Barra’s district office in Lynbrook. His chief of staff, Barbara DeGrace, said the community was extremely generous this year and there were too many toys to count. “I would say several thousand,” she said, noting that more than 20 boxes were filled, each holding about 100 toys.

Toys for Tots is an initiative of the United States Marine Corps that began in 1947. Many of the toys collected will benefit children locally, but some will be shipped around the country because New York state is consistently a leader in toy collection.

Barra, the 14th District assemblyman, has been participating in the Toys for Tots drive for the past four years. Throughout it all, he has been partnering with the Sheriff Officers Association of Nassau County. President Mike Adams said the role of his organization is to help get the toys in the hands of children. “Bob collects the toys and we facilitate giving them out,” he said.

Last Thursday, Barra presented awards to members of the Sheriff Officers Association and other partners including Lynbrook businesses Zebra Environmental and Parr Plumbing, which collected toys. Mario Vuotto, owner of Electric Beach Club next to Barra’s district office, helped store the donations.

Adams said storage of toys is a problem every year — especially when people give so generously — so the Marines give out the donations almost immediately. “There was a lot of participation this year,” Adams said. “Everybody loves to give kids toys. It’s really nice.”

Adrienne Neufeld, of Zebra Environmental and a Lynbrook resident, said she received a flier at home about the toy drive and thought that would be a nice way for the company to give back to the community. She said she received donations from the company’s other officers. “Everybody contributed,” she said. “We got boxes shipped from Florida and New Jersey full of toys.”

DeGrace said about a dozen schools participated. In Valley Stream, toy donations were accepted at Central and South high schools, Memorial Junior High School, and District 24’s three elementary schools.

“The people gave so much this year and I think that’s a reflection of how good the people in the district are because it’s a tough year,” Barra said. “We’ve come a long way with this over the years. Hopefully we’ve made somebody’s holiday season a little bit brighter.”