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Devereux helps Toys for Tots program spread joy this holiday season

 

Devereux Pennsylvania CIDDS offered its space to organizers of a Chester County Toys for Tots event when they didn’t have a location to deliver toys to more than 1,500 children for the holidays.

Betty A. Hamilton, a volunteer through the Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said she was “honored” to be part of the event.

From left: Joan McLimans, Cecelia Figueroa and Ann Figueroa, who volunteered through Chester County Early Intervention, helped sort toys for local children in need.

When organizers of a Chester County Toys for Tots event lost the site they planned to use to sort and distribute toys for those less fortunate this holiday season, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Pennsylvania stepped in to help.

Devereux Pennsylvania’s Children’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services (CIDDS) center offered its cafeteria as a sorting and distribution center for the toys and games. The December 14 Toys for Tots event was organized and facilitated by Horizon House’s Community Crossroads Recovery Center and its nonprofit partners, Stages Arts Initiative and Connect Points.

More than 50 community volunteers, from several area organizations and nonprofits, formed an assembly line at Devereux Pennsylvania CIDDS to unload two box trucks stuffed with more than 40,000 toys. Volunteers then sorted the toys into piles, based on age and gender, and placed them into bags for area service providers to pick up and deliver to more than 2,000 children in Chester County, Pa.

“This event grows in magnitude each and every year, serving more and more families in need in our community. For us, helping out was a no-brainer,” said Lynn Verdone, quality management director/administrator for Devereux Pennsylvania CIDDS. “Event organizers needed a large enough space – which our cafeteria provides – to sort and bag tens of thousands of games, stuffed animals, action figures and other toys. We jumped at the opportunity to support this wonderful cause.”

The Toys for Tots event, which began in 2012 and served about 50 Chester County families, now serves more than 750 families. 

Located in West Chester, Pa., Devereux Pennsylvania CIDDS serves children, adolescents and young adults – from birth to age 21 – with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and behavioral and emotional disorders.

Learn about Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health.

 

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