Salisbury family delivers for Toys of Hope

Once again, the place to be this holiday season was a home on Hyacinth Street in Salisbury on Dec. 18. 

That home, owned by the Gargiulo family, hosted more than 125 people last weekend for the annual holiday party to benefit Toys of Hope. Each year, the Joe and Kathy Gargiulo extend an open invitation to the community for an evening of food, fun and even a visit from Santa Claus. 

There is one stipulation for guests to gain admission — bring at least one, new unwrapped toy or gift. 

In its 12th year, the party yielded several giant boxes filled with toys, adult gifts and other necessities to help struggling Long Islanders during the holidays.  

“We started out with one box the first year,” Joe Gargiulo said. “Now, look there are five, six boxes.”

Joe and Kathy Gargiulo’s twin 14-year-old daughters, Amanda and Angelica, students at W.T. Clarke High School, encouraged about 60 friends to stop by and donate a gift. 

For the past six years, the collections from the event were donated directly to Toys of Hope, a Long Island-based organization led by an all-volunteer crew. The organization’s founder and president, Melissa Doktofsky attends the party each year. Santa and one of his reindeer visited as well.  

Toys of Hope is unlike other charity organizations. 

“We’re really unique when it comes to charities,” Doktofsky said. “We are all volunteer — 100 percent of donations and money coming in go directly to the people.” 

Toys of Hope is much more than toys. The organization works year round to help provide people in need with anything from coats to books. In fact, at this year’s Gargiulo holiday party, the family issued a “wish list” of items that people could donate instead of or in addition to toys. The list included everyday products like toothbrushes and other personal hygiene products. 

Doktofsky said she looks forward to the Gargiulo event each year, as it symbolizes the kind of people who contribute their time and efforts to assist Toys of Hope in helping Long Islanders.

“It’s people like the Gargiulos that have kept this charity going for the last 16 years,” Doktofsky said. 

For more information on Toys of Hope, visit, www.toysofhope.org.