Thirteen years after a small holiday gesture sparked a grass-roots movement, the Love, Ava Project launched its biggest toy drive yet in November, mobilizing dozens of South Shore businesses and volunteers to bring Christmas to children and families facing hardship.
Founded over a decade ago by Brianna O’Hagan, general manager of the gastropub EGP Oceanside, Love, Ava has grown into a sizable nonprofit. Its toy drive and adopt-a-family initiative honors the memory of Ava Salonia, an Oceanside 16-year-old who died in August 2023 of leukemia. Ava and her family received support from the project during her treatment — a connection that continues to inspire the organization’s work.
Each year the toy drive begins with area businesses volunteering to host donation boxes. This holiday season, between nearly 30 businesses in Oceanside, Island Park, East Rockaway, Rockville Centre and Long Beach have signed on as official drop-off spots. They received collection boxes, and are gathering unwrapped donations through Dec. 17. The project now supports roughly 35 local families as well as children receiving care at NYU Langone Cancer Center for Kids in Mineola and at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital.
O’Hagan said she never expected the effort to evolve into a countywide network of donation sites, volunteers and family partnerships. Thirteen years ago, she simply wanted to teach her younger brother and two sisters about the generosity of giving back.
“I was trying to teach my siblings what it means to give to others and to give back to the community,” she recalled.
The mission has only grown since. O’Hagan and a team of dedicated volunteers, including her family, sort, organize and deliver hundreds of toys each year to families in need, some with limited incomes and others facing the challenges of medical emergencies or major financial hardship. The families submit wish lists for holiday gifts as well as everyday needs and wants.
Because the Love, Ava Project keeps in contact with families year-round, the support often extends beyond the holiday season. The long-term relationships, O’Hagan said, are among the most meaningful parts of her work.
“That’s when you realize the impact is bigger than you ever imagined,” she said.
One family the project helped recently, from Oceanside, returned with donations of their own. “Those kids and family members are now wanting to help someone else because they themselves were helped,” O’Hagan said. “Seeing that is incredible. It shows how giving inspires more giving.”
She said she hopes the toy drive reminds the community what the season is truly about.
“Something like this just opens people’s eyes to the fact that we almost get blinded a little by the Christmas season, and get caught up in what we’re going to receive,” O’Hagan said. “But the whole point is to remind them that we should be giving back to other people who aren’t going to receive like them. There are people less fortunate, and it’s so important to give back to them so they can have a good holiday experience.”
With collection boxes in place and toys beginning to pile up, O’Hagan said she hopes this year’s drive will be the project’s most meaningful yet — a tribute to Ava, and a reminder of what a community can accomplish when generosity leads the way.
