Schools Compete to Stuff the Stocking

Local elementary, middle schools and high schools are invited to enter a friendly competition to donate toys to the Season of Hope toy drive to benefit needy children in Sussex and Northern Warren counties. The toy shop will serve over 1,000 low-income families and over 2,000 children and teens this December. A decorated school bus will swoop down on each school in mid-December and cart the items away for distribution to local families. The winning school will receive a monetary contribution toward its activities fund, along with a trophy which will have to be defended the following year. Runners up will also receive monetary contributions. Organizers hope to encourage each local school to collect hundreds or even thousands of gift items over the course of the next few weeks.

Twenty-seven schools participated in last year’s effort, which was won by Green Hills School for the second year in a row. "The community of Green Hills has always believed in supporting and helping those in need, and they have communicated this ideal to their children. Every year my students are excited about having the opportunity to brighten someone's holiday by stuffing the stockings!" said Seth Cohen, Principal of Green Hills School.

The toy drive is a joint effort driven and coordinated by Project Self-Sufficiency, along with its partners Charm, The Chatterbox Drive In, iHeartMedia, Inc., Intercar Mercedes Benz, Pass it Along, Selective Insurance Company of America, Service Electric Broadband Cable, the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce, Sussex Honda, The New Jersey Herald, The Printing Center, and the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots to benefit local families in need. The group aims to gather thousands of new and unwrapped items to distribute to low-income families need during mid-December.

“Last year the Season of Hope Toy Drive gave gifts to more than 2,100 low-income children in our community, and we anticipate that the need will be even greater this year,” noted Project Self-Sufficiency Board of Directors member Kathy Esposito, who is co-chairing this year’s effort along with her husband, Lou. “We are very excited about having the schools come together in support of the low-income families in our area. However, this effort is not just about the toys, but the feeling of Christmas which the toys represent. Through the Stuff the Stocking campaign, local school children have the ability to help isolated families, and that is a gift that is returned tenfold. Being self-sufficient doesn't have to mean being alone. Let's all help each other out during this Season of Hope.”

Those who wish to contribute to the Season of Hope Holiday Toy Drive are encouraged to drop off a new, unwrapped toy at Project Self-Sufficiency. Gift items will be gratefully received at Project Self-Sufficiency, which is located at 127 Mill Street in Newton, Monday – Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. or Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monetary donations to the drive can be made at www.projectselfsufficiency.org. Toy donations are requested by December 15th in order to allow ample time for the items to be distributed to needy families. For more information, call Project Self-Sufficiency at 973-940-3500, or visit www.projectselfsufficiency.org.