LMS community brings holiday joy to needy families

Published December 26, 2018

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — Wow.

Lynnfield Middle School’s cafeteria was transformed into Santa’s Workshop during the annual Holiday Gift Drive on Dec. 19. The popular town tradition spearheaded by LMS students, families and staff members led to over a thousand gifts being donated to families in need.

The middle school partnered with the Department of Children and Families’ Lynn Area Office once again. Due to the number of gifts collected this year, a caravan of vehicles driven by DCF employees were needed in order to fill in for Santa Claus and his eight tiny reindeer.

Fifth grade teacher Patricia Hazelton, who co-organized the Gift Drive along with media specialist Becky Petrin, was once again amazed by the community’s support for needy families.

“The gift drive as a whole brings out the best in our students, our faculty and our community,” said Hazelton. “It reflects what can happen when the generosity and the kind hearts that we all have come together to make a difference. It is quite moving.”  

Middle School Assistant Principal Tom Sallee agreed.

“This year’s Gift Drive continues to amaze me,” said Sallee. “It’s so great to see the generosity and hard work of the students, families and staff.”

Eighth grader Abi Travers echoed Hazelton and Sallee’s sentiments.

“It’s wonderful to help others,” said Travers.

Hazelton noted DCF social workers held an assembly in late November before the Gift Drive got underway. She said the social workers told LMS students about the children and families who would be benefitting from the middle school community’s generosity.

“We try to make that connection so the kids know where the gifts are going,” said Hazelton.

When asked how many gifts were donated during LMS’ Holiday Gift Drive, Hazelton said, “I lost count.”

“We had 24 recipients,” said Hazelton. “This year we actually took in a lot of teenagers who do not have families and some of whom do not even have homes. We really tried to make sure we supplied them with the things they need for the long-term. We gave them comforters, sheets, bath towels, home goods, toaster ovens and video game systems. We took care of a grandmother who recently took in three kids. We made sure she got the things she needed.”

Hazelton said some of the big-ticket items this year included bikes, Xboxes, an iPad, three Kindles and an Amazon Fire.

“It was very impressive,” said Hazelton.

Hazelton noted Lynnfield High School students joined in with the Gift Drive fun once again.

“The high school contributed stockings this year and they also donated a lot of gift cards,” said Hazelton. “They were extremely generous.”

In an email sent to the Villager, high school English teacher Stefanie Marcoux said Operation Kindness spearheaded the stocking donations. Marcoux and foreign language teacher Jodie Liebowitz are the club’s advisors.

“We distribute stockings by homerooms, where the students and faculty then donate small toys, clothing, candy, toiletries, gift cards and other fun stocking stuffers,” said Marcoux. “Following a two-week collection period, Operation Kindness sorts through the stockings to make sure everything is equally distributed, and we bring labeled stockings to the Middle School Gift Drive. All of us at Operation Kindness are extremely thankful for the generosity and kindness of the Lynnfield High School community for making this such a successful event and helping to spread holiday cheer to families in need.”

Hazelton said the Lynnfield community once again stepped up to help make holiday dreams come true for needy families.

“This year we had a lot of people from the community come in and contribute,” said Hazelton. “There was a woman who made hats for every recipient we had. She had no connection to the school, but read about it in the paper and sent in a whole box of hats that she knitted for our recipients. It was awesome.”

Eighth grader Alyssa O’Keefe said she enjoyed participating in the LMS Gift Drive once again.

“It feels great to give back,” said O’Keefe.

Eighth grader Janelle Gaudette concurred with O’Keefe’s viewpoint.

“It’s heart warming to give back to people in need,” said Gaudette.

The number of parents who stepped up and volunteered during the Gift Drive blew Hazelton away.

“We had more PTO involvement this year than we have had in the past, which made a huge difference,” said Hazelton. “We had a ton of parents volunteering all week. They deserve a great thank you.”

Hazelton noted a number of people kept donating gifts for the drive right up until up to the start of the wrapping extravaganza in the cafe.

“It’s impressive to see the number of people who contribute,” said Hazelton. “It amazes we had people still coming in up until 2 p.m. today. We appreciate it.”

Hazelton thanked Sallee, Middle School Principal Stephen Ralston and the faculty and staff for supporting the Gift Drive. Similar to previous years, LMS teachers stood outside during morning drop off in order to raise awareness about the Gift Drive.

DCF social worker Britt Scoglio thanked the LMS community for making holiday wishes come true once again.

“The Gift Drive exceeds our expectations once again,” said Scoglio. “They have consistently helped out a lot of families in need. I would like to thank Patricia Hazelton for working so hard every year to get this drive up and running. She does an excellent job.”

Hazelton noted the middle school’s core values of kindness, effort and citizenship are on display during the Gift Drive.

“This is our signature event because it displays all three of the values that we have here,” said Hazelton. “It gives all of the kids an opportunity to practice those values.”