Mount Alverno residents contribute to the success of Operation Toy Train

WARWICK — Santa can always use a few extra elves and the residents at Mount Alverno Center, an adult home and assisted living program in Warwick are ready and willing.
On Sunday, Dec. 3, Mount Alverno residents Dorothy Wilson and Helen McKeon were among the many people who greeted the Middletown & New Jersey Railroad locomotive pulling a train of railroad freight cars along with passenger compartments into the Village of Warwick.
It was the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s annual “Operation Toy Train,” stopping at nearby New York and New Jersey communities with Santa and volunteers helping load gifts for needy children that had been collected for its Toys for Tots Foundation during the holiday season.
Twice each week, Mount Alverno hosts bingo games with prizes for the winners. And toys are very popular because they can be given as gifts to young family members.
But many of the residents donate them back to be put aside for “Operation Toy Train,” which is why Wilson and McKeon, assisted by volunteers Nancy Eubank, her son Sean and Carol Cook, were at the train stop with eight bags of toys.
“We are grateful to our residents and volunteers who contribute each year to the success of the Marine Corps annual Toys for Tots drive,” said Mount Alverno Center Activities Director Amy Steinberg. “They enjoy collecting these gifts throughout the year, knowing that they will make many children very happy.”
Mount Alverno Center is a New York State-licensed Adult Home with an Assisted Living Program serving 85 residents.