Lions Club continues Red Hook tradition, by Nathan Weiser

On December 19,the Red Hook Lions Club held their 10th holiday toy giveaway at the Miccio Community Center. This one was not like any that they have had before.

Andrea McKnight, who is the head of the Lions Club in Red Hook along with her husband, organized this 28th edition of the holiday giveaway.

Covid-19 changed this year’s event very much.

Regulations made it so that only five kids and their parents could come inside of the Miccio at a time. Three different groups of kids came, which meant a total of 15 kids received gifts.

In a normal year, there are many more kids, lots of food would be provided for the families and there would be activities for the kids. However, the Lions Club made do with the protocols that are in place.

“Safety this year is relevant to the Lion’s model in serving the community,” said Mrs. McKnight.

The kids and their parents who came to the toy drive found out about the event through McKnight’s flyer that she put on Facebook.

IKEA has been involved with the toy giveaway for the past three years. Costco is another business that donates toys.

IKEA had signs in the store alerting customers about the Lions Club toy drive. Customers and staff bought toys or books in the store and donated them in donation bins located within the store.

“We are proud to have the opportunity to work with the Red Hook Lions this year,” said Lynette D’Angelo, Deputy New York Market Manager. “At IKEA, we believe children are the most important people in the world and that every child has the right to play.”

Each kid had the opportunity to take chips and a Capri Sun along with one or two gifts.

Choices included a lamp, many different stuffed animals, a Ninja turtle coloring book for boys, a paint box “strawberry shortcake” for girls, “Hey Flavors” children’s first cook book, a speaker, a blanket, a USB charger for older kids and other toys and books.

Robert Berrios played Santa Claus, and each kid had the opportunity to take a picture him after selecting their snack and gifts.

According to Lorna Montalvo, of  IKEA, the international store wants to play their part in creating a better life for the people and communities touched by their business.

A new addition this year was that TaskRabbit Taskers were delivering the toys for the first time.

Montalvo added that Taskrabbit reached out to IKEA about getting involved with the toy drive in the end of October since they knew this was happening and IKEA gladly accepted their inquiry.

Taskrabbit Taskers are people who will do many different tasks for people like deliveries, shopping or waiting on line, and on December 19 they came over with a van and helped transport all of the gifts to the Miccio. Montalvo thought having Taskrabbit involved was of great assistance and took away the burden of carrying everything from IKEA to the Miccio.

Lions Clubs have chapters all around the world and LIONS stands for Liberty, Intelligence, Our, Nation’s, Safety. They are first responders, according to McKnight.

They provide courage and a unique sense of empowerment to their communities and to the world. They have over 1.4 million members around the world. Their global causes include diabetes, vision, hunger, environment and childhood cancer.

McKnight has a large Lions Club quilt of many patches she has received from representatives from around the world.

“The district governor from South Africa gave this {patch} to us as a gift,” McNight said. “They were here at a convention. The convention is a conglomeration of all clubs coming from around the world.”