- April 18, 2024
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SPARCC volunteers organized the toys as they came in.
Festive lights decorated all corners of the parking lot.
Gina Jordan snaps a photo of the displays.
Louisa Goldman catches up with Jessica Hays after dropping off her gifts.
Ning Qin takes a picture as donors arrive.
Each car was greeted with enthusiastic cheers and a ringing cowbell.
Debbie Grossman, Katherine Pike and Kathy Brown
Renu Ahluwalia, Gina Jordan and Rebecca Pankowski
The pile of toys grew every few minutes.
Maggie Shaw and Andrea Andrus had to unwrap a present that was delivered.
Co-chairs Maggie Shaw and Andrea Andrus
Viveca Altobelli takes a donation from Anne Marie Sopko.
Maggie Shaw celebrates a toy donor.
Andrea Andrus surveys the gifts.
Maggie Shaw rings in a donor.
Sandy Fulkerson and Viveca Altobelli
Mary Ellen Mancini and Jessica Hays
Mary Ellen Mancini and Jessica Hays
Winter wonderlands may look a little different in 2020. For SPARCC, their parking lot became a source of Christmas cheer for the evening on Dec. 5 as they hosted their annual Cookies, Cakes and Carolers event.
Though it has the same name as the organization's annual holiday luncheon, this year it was a pandemic-friendly drop-off toy drive-through. Volunteers decorated the parking lot with lights and every time a car drove up, a gaggle of cheerful SPARCC elves greeted the donor with bells, cheers and a send-off of cookies and candy canes.
"What's been interesting was we had to find a big workaround," co-chair Maggie Shaw said. "To go from a sit-down lunch with 140 people to this was a leap."
"We call it a transitional event," co-chair Andrea Andrus added
More than 20 cars had come through by half an hour into the event, a happy turnout, CEO and President Jessica Hays said. The toys came unwrapped and will be set up at SPARCC for a shopping day for those served by the organization. Clients will come in and shop for Christmas toys for their children at no cost to them.
