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CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The 39th Annual Hope for Holidays Toy Drive and Motorcycle Run is underway in Chicopee, aiming to bring joy to children in need this holiday season.
The event, which began today at Walmart on Memorial Drive, is collecting new unwrapped toys, gift cards, and monetary donations until Saturday from 7 AM to 7 PM.
All collected items will be distributed to children through Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry.
“It brings me overwhelming joy to just see how the community comes together, to just little by little help these kids,” said Emanuel Afonso, President of Hope for Holidays. “These kids, some of them don’t have anything coming to them for Christmas. So any little change that we can do, we can give them is just amazing.”
The toy drive is part of a three-day event that culminates in a motorcycle run on Sunday. The motorcycle portion will start at 11 AM at the Memorial Drive Walmart and conclude at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield. Riders are encouraged to participate by bringing a new, unwrapped toy as their entry fee.
With community support, the Hope for Holidays Toy Drive and Motorcycle Run is set to make a significant impact on local children this Christmas season.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WWLP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WWLP staff before being published.
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Kayleigh Thomas
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