Lighting Up The Night For Children In Need in Levittown

LEVITOWN, NY — A winter wonderland with Christmas lights and cut outs of Frosty the snowman, Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer, and the Grinch fashioned by students from Abbey Lane Elementary School was visited by a group of firefighters and ‘Santa Claus’ recently.

The event, dubbed Night of Lights by organizers from the school’s student council, capitalized on the season of giving, providing a socially-distanced drive-thru spectacular while collecting toys for needy children. Student council advisers Lisa Wenz and Denice Norman organized members of the Abbey Lane faculty, staff and PTA to decorate the school’s back parking lot area with lights, inflatable decorations and more, and art teacher Tiffany Sorice worked with students on painting character cutouts that she created for the spectacle, according to a news release distributed by the school district.

As part of the event, attendees were asked to bring a new toy donation and then drive through the event and then participate in a QR code scavenger hunt later. The Abbey Lane orchestra provided music and other songs of the season were broadcasted live on the radio. The event culminated with a special visit from firefighters from the Levittown Fire Department in a decorated truck and “Santa stopped by,” the release stated.

During the event, 150 toys were collected for the John Theissen Children’s Foundation, according to the news release.

“We appreciate the support from the entire Abbey Lane community for taking part in our event,” Principal Dr. George Maurer stated in the release.