Korony Post provides hundreds
of toys for needy kids
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A busy American Legion
post was transformed
for one day into Santa’s
workshop for local kids in
need.
The Joseph Mazzariello
Theodore Korony American
Legion Post #253 Toy Drive
once again distributed toys
this holiday season to eight
local, non-profi t charitable
organizations.
The merry band of Santa’s
helpers distributed
the toys to representatives
from organizations – ranging
from shelters for women
and children to churches to
after-school programs – on
Tuesday, December 18 from
a donated space in Throggs
Neck.
This year approximately
900 toys were distributed,
according to organizers.
The legion sent out letters
to its membership,
auxiliary and Sons of the
American Legion chapter
asking for donations to purchase
the gifts, and toys
were also collected at locations
including Throggs
Neck Memorial American
Legion Post #1456, Bronxonia
Yacht Club and First Lutheran
Church of Throggs
Neck, said Anthony Ferrara,
one of the volunteers.
“We follow Joe Mazzariello’s
mission: no child
should be without a toy at
Christmas,” said lead drive
coordinator Judy Lanci, referring
to the founder and
namesake of the drive, a
U.S. Marine who ran it for
decades.
Lanci added: “They are
went to really needy children.
Thank God most of
the children in our own
community are taken care
of during the holidays. Our
job is to help veterans’ families
and take it a few steps
beyond.”
Support for the drive
also came from a donation
from the National Guard,
said Lanci, and from residents
of Edgewater Park,
added Ferrara.
Lanci said that after
Mazzariello passed away,
she took over the leadership
of the toy drive, verifying
the credentials of nonprofi
t organizations that
the toy drive was serving.
In the ten years that
have passed, some organizations
have been added to
the roster of charities the
drive benefi ts, she said.
The charities present
the Korony post with lists
of ages and genders of the
boys and girls requiring
gifts, and the drive coordinators
do their best to
fulfill the requests, said
Ferrara, who also assists
the Waterbury LaSalle
Community Association’s
annual Christmas Tree
lighting by playing Santa
Claus.
“Personally, I think every
single toy we give to
these organizations goes
to a child who probably
wouldn’t be getting anything
on Christmas morning,”
said Ferrara.
Cathy Praino, a local veterans
advocate who is a volunteer
with the drive, said
she volunteers because she
recognized the importance
of children having toys at
Christmas during the 18
years she spent working at
an orphanage.
Recipients of the toy
drive were Aquila, Inc.,
which operates a shelter
on Morris Park Avenue in
West Farms; Acaica Network;
Antioquia Church –
Christian and Missionary
Alliance; The Bible Church
of Christ; Concourse House;
St John Chrysostom’s
School; Einstein Hospital’s
Children’s Evaluation and
Rehabilitation Center and
Claremont Neighborhood
Center.
The post’s annual holiday
toy drive accepts monetary
donations all year
round for its philanthropic
efforts, said Lanci.
Checks for future drives
should be payable to the
‘Theodore Korony Christmas
Toy Drive’ and mailed
to Throggs Neck Station,
P.O. Box 833, Bronx, New
York 10465.
BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY January 27, 2019 6
SAME DAY
SERVICE
AVAILABLE
SERVING BRONX
AND THE ENTIRE
TRI-STATE AREA
ANTIQUES & ESTATE BUYERS
Military
Collections
Wanted
Swords,
Knives,
Helmets, etc.
ANTIQUE & ESTATE BUYERS
We buy anything old. One piece or house full.
WILL TRAVEL. HOUSE CALLS.
WILL TRAVEL
ENTIRE
TRI-STATE!
FREE
Estimates!
We Pay $CASH$ For
Paintings, Clocks, Watches,
Estate Jewelry & Fine China,
From Single Items
to Entire Estates!
Coin & Stamp Collections
Costume Jewelry
Antique Furniture Lamps
Bronzes Paintings Prints
Chinese & Japanese
Artwork & Porcelain
Sports Collectibles
Comic Books Old Toys Records
Cameras Sterling Flatware Sets
HUMMELS & LLADROS
TOP $ PAID
FOR JUDAICA
COLLECTIBLES
HOUSE
CALLS
MOVING or
DOWNSIZING?
CALL
US!
Top $ Paid
for Antique
Sterling!
SEE OUR AD EVERY SUNDAY IN THE POST
516-974-6528
WILL TRAVEL. WE MAKE HOUSE CALLS.
1029 WEST JERICHO TURNPIKE, SMITHTOWN, L.I.
HOUSE
CALLS
ASK FOR CHRISTOPHER
Volunteers from the American Legion post spreading holiday cheer were (l-r) Joanne Cunningham,
Lorraine Johnson, Delores Stoltze, Judy Lanci, Ruth Leich and Anthony Ferrara.
Schneps Community News Group / Patrick Rocchio
www.bxtimes.com
/www.bxtimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.bxtimes.com