At the beginning of December, there were very few toys coming into the Red Barrels around the community for the Lions annual Toys for Kids giveaway. The club put out pleas for donations through the newspaper, radio, emails, Facebook and Front Porch Forum. Lions Chair Sue Hayes says, “Thank you, thank you to everyone who donated. The saying goes ‘it takes a village,’ and that is so true.” It ended up being the best toy drive ever.

The total children who received gifts was 350, and the parents were also able to pick out hats, mittens, scarves, stuffed toys, stocking stuffers, along with wrapping paper, bags and tape. Gift cards were given for 26 additional older children at a $25 value. In addition, over 90 children went into the Rescue Squad on Sunday to pick out gifts for their parents or caregivers, thanks to the money raised by the Lions and Rotary Clubs through the Memory Tree in the City Park.

A special raffle was held late Saturday afternoon to determine who would receive the 13 bikes of different sizes. Parents drawn were able to pick out which bike would be most appropriate for their child.

Words cannot express the sincere thanks we have for the generosity of Michael DiPalermo of Long Trail on the Falls Physical Therapy for donating his office space and for setting up all the toys with Judy’s help.

Another super big thank you to WOW Toys for being so generous. When it looked like the giveaway was going to be short of toys, WOW doubled what they have given in the past.

Other thank you’s go to Little City Cycles, Bruce Zeman, Maple Landmark, Rack and Reel, Shaws, Kinney Drugs, Aubuchon Hardware, Tractor Supply, Jackman Fuels, Ferrisburgh Bake Shop, Dollar General, One Credit Union, Sheer Cuts, Shelly Schroeder, Dinah Short, Scott and Macky Gaines, Vergennes Area Rescue and the individuals who shopped, knitted and gave generously. 

Thank you all!

Larry Simino

on behalf of Vergennes Lions