In the spirit of the holiday season, Joanie Perry and Lynn Morsell, residents and social committee members of The Mews at Laurel Creek, have once again spearheaded a toy drive to make the holiday season a little brighter for children in the community.
The third annual community toy drive – which collected 84 gifts and over $2,000 worth of monetary donations and gift cards – benefited Moorestown Ecumenical Neighborhood Development’s (MEND) Children of MEND Holiday Fund.
“We are beyond appreciative of Lynn and Joanie’s continued hard work in heading up this toy drive and bringing their neighborhood together to help support children of our hardworking MEND residents,” said Eileen Wirth, MEND’s President and CEO. “This exemplifies the true meaning of the holidays!”
Perry first started the drive to continue to help kids in some way.
“I knew of MEND and the amazing work they do in helping the community and wanted to bring people together to help support their Holiday Fund. It gives our community such pleasure to support MEND,” said Perry.
Perry and Morsell, both retired teachers, said the response from their neighbors has been nothing short of amazing – year after year. Even during the pandemic last year, they thought outside the box on how best to receive donations due to COVID-19 restrictions. In addition to toys, they requested monetary donations and gift certificates from local businesses to help support the local economy.
“Thanks to the generosity of our residents, we have our third successful drive under our belts!” said Perry. “It’s a great feeling to come together to help spread holiday cheer to local children.”
