They worked until Christmas Eve to deliver ‘holiday magic’

We realized that there’s more of a need to help families with food insecurities in our home community than we had previously realized.”

Pat Alonge Lynbrook

Residents of Lynbrook know Pat Alonge and Gail Mancuso as giving people. So as the holiday season approached and neighbors saw kids in need of holiday cheer, they knew who to call.

Most families unwind and spend time with loved ones during the holidays. Alonge and Mancuso, both retired Lynbrook residents, worked from October to Christmas Eve on their annual toy drive to make that possible for 20 Lynbrook families, lightening their burden by giving them toys, clothing, bedding and more.

“I ended up having a conversation with one of the social workers in the Lynbrook school district,” Alonge said, “and from that conversation, we realized that there’s more of a need to help families with food insecurities in our home community than we had previously realized.”

One social worker from the district volunteered for the toy drive, and, according to Alonge, showed how much they cared about district students. She noted that the social workers deal with much heartache and many difficult circumstances, but they handle it with grace.

Local churches reached out to Alonge and Mancuso as well, asking them to help other families. They also provided food to those who were impacted by the Dec. 18 fire at a building on Merrick Road that displaced 28 people. As a result of the increased demand, they worked well past their initial cutoff date of Dec. 15 for delivering gifts.

“This year on Christmas Eve, we were both delivering dinner to families,” Mancuso said.

In mid-fall, Alonge began posting information about the toy drive on Facebook. She created a Google Document wish list that contained all the information on what needed to be donated. There was also an option for people to donate using Venmo, and Alonge used the donations to buy some of the gifts.

Mancuso described her work for the drive as the “back office,” and Alonge as the “face” of the operation. The partnership helps them bring, what they describe as “holiday magic” to Lynbrook.

Mancuso noted that there were some items you would “never even think about being on a child’s wish list” like food and snacks.

Alonge said that she and Mancuso treated every child as if they were their own.

“We know every kid wants to fit in, and wants to be like the other kids in their class,” Alonge said. “And many times they don’t have the opportunity to have the same type of clothing or the same type of toys.”

Christopher Vaughan, of Mattress Firm, in Lynbrook, worked with Alonge and Mancuso to provide two children whose family asked for twin beds with mattresses and bedding. Other residents helped buy sheets, comforters and pillows for the kids.

In total, there were more than 60 kids on the list, and about 150 garbage bags filled with gifts in Mancuso’s home. Her husband, Bobby Mancuso, and their friend Joan Donovan helped deliver them.

“We found out that one of the families we were delivering to on Christmas Eve had a 16-year-old living there,” Alonge said, “and we didn’t want to walk in with all these gifts for the other kids and nothing for her.”

Alonge posted about it on social media, and within an hour, someone bought a gift on Amazon for the 16-year-old girl. It was delivered on Christmas morning.

“The outpour of generosity in Lynbrook is by far unbelievable,” Alonge said.

“Every kid should be able to experience the magic of the holiday season,” Alonge said.

They have yet to start planning the next toy drive, she and Mancuso said, but they hope to start collecting gifts a bit earlier this year.