LYNNFIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL sixth-graders, from left, Kiley Pagliuca, Lucy Sabbagh, Mila Murphy, Adriana Polcari, art teacher Myla Zinetti and Caroline Hurton had a blast wrapping presents for families in need during Lynnfield Middle School’s Holiday Gift Drive on Dec. 18. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Wow.
Lynnfield Middle School’s auditorium, cafeteria and gym were transformed into Santa’s Workshop during the annual Holiday Gift Drive on Dec. 18. Two-hundred-and-forty students, along with school staff and parents, wrapped more than 1,000 gifts for families in need.
“This community’s generosity just blows my mind,” said LMS fifth grade teacher Patricia Hazelton, who organized the Holiday Gift Drive once again. “We had a lot of gifts donated this year. It was incredible.”
The middle school partnered with the Department of Children and Families’ Lynn Area Office once again for this year’s Holiday Gift Drive. Due to the large number of gifts donated, a caravan of cars driven by DCF social workers were needed to fill in for Santa Claus and his nine tiny reindeer. Middle school students and staff helped load the gifts into the cars.
“We have been doing this fundraiser for a long time now, and Lynnfield families always come through for the most needy kids in our area,” said DCF social worker Bob Comito. “It is a wonderful fundraiser that they run here.”
DCF social worker Britt Carlson concurred with Comito’s sentiment.
“It looks like the North Pole,” said Carlson. “A lot of families are going to be very excited.”
Hazelton said the middle school supported 24 recipients this holiday season. She said some of the big-ticket gifts that were donated to children in need included five bikes, a PlayStation 5 video game console, a Nintendo Switch video game console and a virtual reality video game set. She also said LMS front office clerk Camille Dunn’s husband, John, assembled a Barbie Dream House that was donated.
“Polaroid cameras were a big ask this year,” added Hazelton. “We also had two tablets for a brother and sister that were donated. If a kid suggested what they loved, they got everything. We had a little boy request dinosaur stuff, and he got a dinosaur costume, dinosaur sheets and dinosaurs to play with. Somebody asked for ‘Paw Patrol’ gifts, and they got a ‘Paw Patrol’ ride-on and ‘Paw Patrol’ toys. That was really fun to run with.”
Hazelton said the LMS community also donated necessities to the 24 recipients.
“Every family, as always, got bedding, sheets, gloves, hats and coats,” said Hazelton. “We also received a lot of hygiene products such as feminine hygiene products, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and razors. Those were big asks.”
Lynnfield High School social studies teacher Jen Goguen, who has volunteered as the Holiday Gift Drive’s gift-wrapping supplies coordinator for a number of years, said the Women’s Forum donated cleaning supplies to the Holiday Gift Drive.
“The LHS Women’s Forum collected cleaning supplies for each family, and each family is getting a basket of cleaning supplies,” said Goguen, who is the Women’s Forum’s advisor.
LHS Operation Kindness advisor Jodie Leibowitz said the club helped organize the gift card drive portion of the fundraiser once again.
“We had a very successful Gift Card Drive this year,” said Leibowitz, who is the World Language department head at LHS. “The Lynnfield families are always so generous and we love helping LMS with their drive.”
Hazelton said the middle school set a new record with 240 students volunteering to wrap presents during the gift-wrapping extravaganza on Dec. 18. Fifth-grader Shane Steiner enjoyed participating in his first Holiday Gift Drive and wrapping presents for families in need.
“There were a lot of people who wanted to help out in order to make families’ Christmas special,” said Shane.
Fifth-grader CJ Touchette said participating in the LMS Holiday Gift Drive was “a lot of fun.”
LMS Assistant Principal Dana Courtney was impressed that over 1,000 gifts were donated for the Holiday Gift Drive.
“It is my first year at LMS, and I am so proud of this community,” said Courtney. “The generosity of everybody and how excited the kids were to get involved and help those in need really shows what a strong family the LMS family is. It’s great that we all come together for this special fundraiser. It is fun and festive, and it is so wonderful seeing the kids do something for others.”
Hazelton thanked a number of people for working diligently to make this year’s Holiday Gift Drive a huge success once again. She thanked parents and PTO volunteers for their assistance, including Lauren Wolf for using the online platform SignUpGenius to create the gift lists for each family. She also thanked the middle school’s faculty and staff as well as Courtney and Middle School Principal Stephen Ralston for supporting the Holiday Gift Drive once again.
Additionally, Hazelton also thanked Kristin Thomas for making hundreds of individual labels for the fundraiser’s gifts. She thanked Christine Carpenter for organizing the gift cards that were donated. Thomas and Carpenter’s children are college students.
“It takes a village,” said Hazelton. “There are so many people behind the scenes who come together to make this happen. Everybody plays a part. Teachers supervise the wrapping, and the high school’s Operation Kindness collects the gift cards. Camille Dunn’s husband, John, was kind enough to assemble the Barbie Dream House. We had community members donate wrapping paper and gift baskets. We had former teachers come back and help. Media specialist Becky Petrin has been my right-hand for all of this. She has a knack for understanding and tracking what the families need. She was instrumental this year.”
Similar to previous years, Hazelton said DCF social workers gave the middle school a list in order to help make needy families’ holiday wishes come true. She also said DCF social workers hosted an assembly, where they gave students and staff an overview about the Holiday Gift Drive and “how our school community can help make a real difference in the lives of local families.”
“The social workers have shared with me a little bit more information about the families and how touched they are to receive the gifts,” said Hazelton. “The social workers often show up in the worst of times, so having them bring joy to kids and families that they have seen really struggle is a great gift for them too. That makes me happy.”