As they do every year, the 68th Precinct Community Council and the Dyker Heights Civic Association joined forces to celebrate the season at a joint meeting filled with music and merriment.
Gathered at Redeemer St. John’s Lutheran Church, 939 83rd Street, on the evening of Tuesday, December 13, members of both organizations listened to talented musicians from I.S. 201 in Dyker Heights, who performed for them, and sung along to favorite holiday ditties performed by the chorus from the Guild for Exceptional Children, led by Guild Executive Director Paul Cassone.
They also donated the hundreds of toys they had gathered from residents and community organizations to two worthy causes – Reaching-Out Community Services, which will be distributing the toys to underprivileged children at its December 17 holiday party, Operation Christmas Smiles, and the Fort Hamilton Army Base, where the gifts will go to children whose parents are deployed abroad.
“You enable us to make it happen,” Tom Neve, the executive director of Reaching-Out told the crowd. “Those who donate are really bringing it to kids who are less fortunate. We depend on toys coming in from the community.”
Colonel Peter Sicoli, the commander of Fort Hamilton, also expressed his thanks. “In my 25 years of serving, I’ve never seen a community that supports us better than the folks from Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and all over Brooklyn,” he said. “Thank you for your outstanding support and generosity. It’s amazing and humbling.”
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