Toy drive mending countless tiny hearts on Long Island

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Lifelong Lynbrook resident, Shannan Pearsall, plays an instrumental role in collecting thousands of toys for children affected by heart conditions.

This annual toy drive is hosted by the Mended Little Hearts foundation of Long Island. The Long Island chapter started in 2011 and has been hosting toy drives for the patients in the pediatric cardiology unit at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital every year since.

Pearsall, the Group Coordinator for the Mended Little Hearts foundation, worked with Lynbrook mayor Alan Beach and recreational staffer Ginger Fuentes to increase toy donations this year.

“We are very fortunate to have a great relationship with Mayor Beach,” Pearsall said. “And once he learned about the fact that we’ve been doing this drive every year, he said please share this information with Village Hall via local drop off.”

After Pearsall talked with staffers at Village Hall, Beach placed a drop-off box. Fuentes also placed one at the recreational center.

Pearsall didn’t expect anything less from the Lynbrook community as it’s a typical reaction in Lynbrook where community members embrace something, such as the toy drive, and grow it even further.

“We are so fortunate to have a community that says ‘hey, I may not know who you are, but you’re my neighbor and I see you sharing this drive and I’d love to support it’,” Pearsall said.

For Pearsall, this foundation hits home. “My 14-year-old son had three open heart surgeries and three cardiac cauterizations at Columbia,” Pearsall said. She understands the impact that any gift can have on children who are in the hospitals during the holiday months.

“His last surgery happened to fall over the Easter holiday,” Pearsall said. “So we were in the hospital and it was hard, but someone came in the room and gave him a package of stickers.” Pearsall saw her son light up and that gesture made her realized the impact that foundations like Mended Little Hearts can have.

Pearsall explained how gifts don’t have to be anything extravagant or expensive. Just like the gift her son received, Pearsall emphasizes the importance of small, simple gifts. “Sometimes it’s just a small, little token that can make the difference between a bad day and a good day,” Pearsall said.

Pearsall and other workers at the Mended Little Hearts foundation sort the donated toys.

“We sort the toys into a category and sticker each item so that if you’re a family in the hospital receiving one of the donations and you are looking for support, you have a way to connect to us,” Pearsall said. The foundation goes through 2,000 to 3,000 stickers every year.

Along with donating toys to the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Pearsall stressed other reasons why this foundation is crucial for children with heart defects as well as their family members.

“The organization provides support, education, and awareness for families,” Pearsall said. “Then also for the children who are living with congenital heart defects, it gives them an opportunity to meet and interact with other children who may be going through something similar.”

Pearsall noted Mended Little Hearts also looks after the siblings of the patients to assure they don’t feel left out as the majority of the attention is on their sibling.

“Sometimes the focus is not on them and we understand that,” Pearsall said. “So we want to make sure that the siblings feel that they are just as much taken care of and part of this overall diagnosis as a heart diagnosis affects an entire family and not just the patient.”

As people are figuring out what sorts of gifts to buy for the toy drive, Pearsall emphasized the importance of being mindful of the teens and tweens age group.

“Sometimes they’re overlooked,” she said. “We remind people that travel board games, adult coloring books, arts and crafts, and even young adult novels are all fantastic gift ideas.”