Diocesan News

Volunteer ‘Santa’s Elves’ Join CCBQ To Give Christmas Joy to Needy Children

December 18, 2023
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Volunteers from Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens helped parents pick out the best toys for their children at two Santa’s Toy Shop events at St. Vincent Ferrer Church on Dec. 14 and 15. The selection was made easier thanks to volunteers who spent hours earlier that week sorting through the toys and labeling them. Volunteers gathered again on Dec. 18 to sort toys for planned distributions on Dec. 21 and 22. (Photo: Courtesy of Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens)

HOWARD BEACH — Shhh! Don’t tell Santa, but his elves don’t work at the North Pole. They really work in Howard Beach. And they work with Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens.

In preparation for Christmas, volunteers came to the Peter J. Striano Senior Residence in Howard Beach on Monday, Dec. 18, to help Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens (CCBQ) sort and pack thousands of toys that had been donated to the agency to give to families in need at Santa’s Toy Shop events at St. Gabriel Church in East Elmhurst on Thursday, Dec. 21, and Friday, Dec. 22.

Once the toys were sorted by age and gender, it was time for other volunteers to pick them up and transport them by truck to St. Gabriel Church in plenty of time for the toy shops set for later in the week.

“I think we had five or six pickups today and we’ll have another five or six tomorrow,” said Debbie Hampson, CCBQ’s senior director of community outreach services, who spoke on Monday.

Hampson praised the generous spirit of the volunteers. “They come every year and they tell us that for them, this is what Christmas is all about. This is really something they look forward to doing every year,” she said.

The sorting process is important because it makes the toy distribution run more smoothly, Hampson explained. “We have tables set with labels like Boy, Girl, Crafts, Puzzles, and Teens. We sort through them and put all of the things where they’re labeled. So when we get to the site of the toy shop, we can set it up the same way,” she said.

CCBQ employed a similar packing and shipping strategy prior to Santa’s Toy Shops it sponsored at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Flatbush on Thursday, Dec. 14, and Friday, Dec. 15.

On those two days, CCBQ served 1,600 children — including children from migrant families who had been bused to New York City from Texas and other border states. “That’s the highest number to date that we’ve done in Brooklyn in two days. Last year, we served 3,000 between Brooklyn and Queens,” Hampson said.

CCBQ sets up the Santa’s Toy Shops so that parents who have fallen on hard times can maintain as much dignity as possible. The events are set up like toy stores to allow parents to select the gifts they want for their children, rather than CCBQ giving the toys to them.

“It’s so empowering for the parent,” Hampson explained.