Good afternoon and happy new year to our most generous and giving neighbors. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We had a very successful Toys for Kids drive this year, collecting the third most toys in our 15 years of doing this. The final numbers were 1,396 toys, 43 gift certificates, and $1,725 in cash and checks. Several days before Christmas I got a call wondering if we could see our way to get another 10 gift cards which we did. This ensured that no family of a child or young teen went without something under the tree on Christmas day. More than 1,000 kids had a smile on their faces.

I don’t mean to lessen anyone’s contribution, but a few recognitions are deserved. Southampton Police Chief Ian Illingsworth and his staff held their “Stuff a Cruiser” event again this year for us and that resulted in 381 toys. The Package Store had several of our boxes at their location and collected 458 toys. The person who amazes me the most however is 14-year-old Kendall Jarosz who, for the fourth year, posted on her Facebook page and asked for toys on her birthday and donated every one (139!) to our toy drive! Do we see a future Lion?

Our 15-year tally is 11,242 toys and 334 gift certificates for $25. Finally, a great big thank you to each and every person, from the young boys and girls timidly placing a toy in the cruiser or on our table to the folks who popped open their hatch and had many donations, for your generosity. You all are the reason why Southampton and its environs make this such a wonderful place to live and raise a family! Once again, thank you and happy new year!

Arthur Lustenberger

Easthampton