Over $35,000 in toys donated to children in our communities
Special to The Advocate
SAUGUS – Last Thursday, the DiDomenico Foundation hosted their Annual Toy Drive to celebrate the holiday season and collect toys for children throughout the region. In preparation for the event the DiDomenico Foundation volunteers shopped at local stores to purchase $35,000 in games, stuffed animals, bikes, sporting equipment, and countless more toys that nearly filled five U-Haul trucks. In addition to the DiDomenico Foundation toy donations, hundreds of people from across the area and beyond came to the event with their own toy donations to add on to the toy drive. Senator DiDomenico and volunteers spent the next several days delivering these toys to homeless and domestic violence shelters, parishes, community organizations, and local schools.
“This was the biggest toy drive we have ever hosted, and it was made possible thanks to the countless friends, partners, elected officials, benefactors, and Foundation members who spent their time and resources to make the holidays a little brighter for hundreds of children,” said State Senator Sal DiDomenico. “Thanks to these generous individuals and families, so many children will now have a brand-new gift for them during the holidays. They might not know our names or who we are, but they will know that there are people out there who care about them.”
The DiDomenico Foundation is an all-volunteer organization and one of its primary missions is to distribute toys to children in homeless and domestic violence shelters, parishes and local schools. The Wong family, owners of Kowloon Restaurant, once again generously hosted this year’s toy drive at their restaurant. In addition, U-Haul Boston also donated all of the trucks to transport the toys. This group effort is made up of so many people coming together to help families throughout our communities.
Santa arrived from the North Pole.Ward 6 Councillor Alfred Lattanzi donated five U-Haul trucks to DiDomenico for his DiDomenico Foundation Annual Toy Drive at Kowloon’s last Thursday night.At the end of the evening, volunteers unloaded the toys to be distributed to children in need.Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith with her children, Harlowe, 5, and Harry, 3State Senator Sal DiDomenico and School Committee Members, pictured from left to right: Marcony Almeida Barros (Ward 5), Samantha Lambert (At Large), Senator DiDomenico and Michael Mangan (Ward 4).State Senator Sal DiDomenico thanked everyone for their generosity.State Senator Sal DiDomenico with Everett residents Evelyn Gayhart, Eleanor Gayhart, Rebeckah Curry and Mark Gayhart, who are shown holding toys that they donated.Thanks to State Senator Sal DiDomenico’s St. Patrick’s Day fundraiser, hundreds of toys were collected.State Senator Sal DiDomenico, his wife Trisha and his children, Sal and MatthewPictured from left to right: Ward 4 School Committee member Michael Mangan, Ward 2 Councillor Stephanie Martins, Councillor-at-Large Richard Dell Isola, Councillor-at-Large Irene Cardillo and School Committee Vice Chairperson Michael McLaughlin.Members of Community Action Programs Inter-City Inc., a regional anti-poverty organization that is led by Executive Director Richelle CromwellZion Church Ministries Senior Pastor Bishop Robert Brown and State Senator Sal DiDomenico at Kowloon’s in Saugus for Sen. DiDomenico’s annual Toy Drive. (Advocate photo by Tara Vocino)
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