Optimist Club replaces in-person toy collection with drive-thru event in O’Hara
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The Pittsburgh North Optimist Foundation won’t let covid-19 thwart its annual effort to collect holiday gifts for needy children.
Members of the Fox Chapel-based club are hosting a toy drive-thru to replace their typical in-person fundraiser.
The event will be noon to 3 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the Lauri Ann West Community Center, 1220 Powers Run Road, O’Hara.
“The gifts and toys that are donated will help make the holiday season a special time for children in our area,” event coordinator Sharon Rigatti said.
Items should be unwrapped. They will be given to the Sharpsburg Family Worship Center and used for the “Give a Gift” holiday event, where parents and friends purchase gifts for children 18 and younger for as little as 50 cents an item.
Gifts do not need to be exclusively toys, Rigatti said, since there are many teens who benefit from the program. Age-appropriate gifts for older children are welcome, she said.
The Optimist club is a civic group dedicated to helping empower children. The group each year gives up to $20,000 to youth-related organizations across the region, including Aspinwall National Night Out, Blawnox Baseball Association, Camp Guyasuta, Fox Chapel Crew Team, Millvale Boxing Center and Sharpsburg Baseball.
The drive-thru gift collection will adhere to the pandemic’s social distancing restrictions, although it is pegged as a family-friendly event with Santa making a visit to distribute candy canes for children as they donate.
Jamie Rhoades, the community center’s Director of Development, said the campus in O’Hara is a perfect fit for the fundraiser, and she’s glad that the event can carry on after such a challenging year.
The Optimist club each year sponsors a Summer Speaker Series at the center to give campers extra enrichment. Guests have included representatives from the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and The Andy Warhol Museum.
“We’re so happy to be part of the toy collection,” Rhoades said. “The Optimist Club has always been a great friend to the center and our community, and their annual toy drive is very much needed by many families this holiday season.”
Because the Optimist club had to cancel its in-person toy drive party at the Fox Chapel Racquet Club, as well as the summer Duck Derby fundraiser, they are seeking monetary donations to help supplement their mission of serving local children, Rigatti said.
To donate, visit pittsburghoptimist.com or mail a check made payable to PNOF, in care of Somer Obernauer, 616 Glengary Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15215.