By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
There was no such thing as a COVID-19 pandemic when Mayor Leonard Desiderio made the decision in 1992 to launch a holiday food and toy drive to help out Sea Isle City’s families that were struggling financially during Christmas.
But the need was there.
“I wanted to do something for the community. I wanted to make sure everyone had a good Christmas. For those who were not having good times financially, this would ensure that there would be toys under the tree and food on the table,” Desiderio recalled.
Twenty-eight years later, there is still a need, especially now during the pandemic. So, as he has done every year since 1992, Desiderio and his army of volunteer “elves” loaded up boxes of toys and food on Monday and distributed them to members of the community just before Christmas.
Truly a communitywide effort, the Mayor’s Holiday Toy & Food Drive involves local civic groups, charitable organizations, businesses and residents.
“The entire community gets involved. The community, as a whole, has been so generous,” Desiderio said.
Among the groups and organizations that donated toys, food and money this year were VFW Post 1963, the Sea Isle police and fire departments and Local 351 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union. Kindle Auto Plaza donated the vans that were used to make toy and food deliveries.
VFW Commander Charles “Chick” Haines noted that members of Post 1963 donated turkeys, stuffing, bread and cookies.
“We went to Walmart to buy it all. The turkeys came from Acme,” Haines said as he helped to load boxes of food and toys into the vans.
This Christmas, 15 families throughout Sea Isle are benefiting from the toy and food drive. Some senior citizens and other residents who have been hurt financially by the pandemic also will receive food.
Among them are a husband and wife who lost their jobs when their company folded because of the coronavirus crisis.
“When their company closed, they had to go out and work three jobs each to make ends meet,” Desiderio said.
With its collection of multimillion-dollar beachfront homes, trendy boutiques and iconic restaurants and nightclubs, Sea Isle is mainly known as an upscale summer vacation retreat. However, there are some local families that need a helping hand during Christmas and other times of year.
Desiderio explained that, somewhat surprisingly, the pandemic did not cause a surge in the number of people who needed food this year. But more donations of toys and food were made this year than usual, perhaps in anticipation that the pandemic would have caused a greater need, he added.
“We’re giving more because people have been more generous and are donating more,” he said.
The community’s generosity during the toy and food drive is reflected by people like 78-year-old Sis Borden, who has been singlehandedly wrapping all of the gifts for the last eight years. Every year, she begins wrapping in November.
Borden credits her late father, Jim Harris, and his spirit of volunteerism for inspiring her to help out with the toy and food drive.
“As I say every year, I do it because of my dad,” she said. “My dad volunteered his time for everyone. He did it, so that’s why I do it.”
As the volunteers deliver the toys and food around town each Christmas, they are often greeted with smiles and hugs from people receiving the gifts. Sometimes, they will tell the volunteers that their neighbors also may be in need of food,” Desiderio said.
“If we have something extra, we’ll come back and give them something, too,” he said.
As a challenging 2020 comes to a close, Desiderio is happy knowing that there are some families in Sea Isle that won’t have to worry about having a dinner or gifts for their children this Christmas, thanks to the Mayor’s Holiday Toy & Food Drive.
“Santa has been very good to Sea Isle,” he said. “Everybody has been so generous. With the pandemic this year, everyone has really stepped up.”
