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Santa and giving highlight Christmas for the Children program
By Sean Barron
CAMPBELL
Space is at a minimum when Diane Timlin’s one-bedroom Austintown apartment fills with up to 26 people, but family closeness is at a premium.
“We have a blast. It’s like a day-care center,” said Timlin, referring to when more than two dozen family members converge on her home for Christmas.
Timlin, whose grandchildren often call her “Meme,” said she also loves preparing dinner for the large amount of company she gets during the holiday.
In keeping with an early taste of what’s to come for Timlin, she and many of her children and grandchildren also gathered for Saturday’s second annual Christmas for the Children program at St. Lucy Catholic Church, 394 Tenney Ave.
The nearly 2-year-old Lighting the Way Foundation hosted the five-hour event, which was to brighten the holidays for 50 children from 24 selected families, noted Val Bicanovsky, the foundation’s founder and director.
The families were treated to a buffet meal, plenty of fellowship and a visit from Santa Claus and two of his helpers, who took turns reading the popular story “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
In addition, the adult guests took home bags of donated gifts that included MP3 players, scooters, a kitchen set, clothing, cameras and other items, Bicanovsky noted.
“I really, really want to get a phone,” said 10-year-old Tei’Anna Barnett, a fifth-grader at St. Joseph the Provider school and one of Timlin’s grandchildren. “I love to be with my grandmother.”
Electronic games and hand-held devices were at the top of the gift list for Tei’Anna’s brothers, Trevon and Raymond Barnett III, 7 and 9, respectively.
During his surprise visit, Santa Claus gave the youngest sibling, 2-year-old Jessa Green, a purple Dora the Explorer dish set.
Accompanying the excited youngsters were their parents, Jesse Green and Angela Paolone.
“We like to hang out with the family and celebrate Christmas Eve with mom,” said Paolone, who works for Burlington Coat Factory in Niles.
The holidays this year are particularly difficult, however, for Christopher and Kimberly Coggins of Youngstown.
Casting a pall over the occasion is sadness the family feels over the recent death of Kimberly’s mother.
Nevertheless, Saturday’s event provided added cheer for the couple and their two children, Zackery and Lexis, who are in first and fourth grade, respectively, in the Austintown School District.
“Our main goal is to be strong and show our love,” Christopher said, adding: “If it wasn’t for programs like this, I don’t know how we’d make it.”
Zackery, who likes football, particularly the Atlanta Falcons, said he hopes to receive an iPod device as a gift.
The main present Lexis said she hopes to have is a rainbow loom bracelet.
Bicanovsky, who founded Lighting the Way in May 2012, noted that families had to provide proof of income and a birth certificate to be eligible for the program.
She added that the effort’s biggest reward is the children and parents knowing that the holidays will be made easier and happier for them.
The foundation also gives away Easter baskets and provides school supplies to students in kindergarten through grade 12, Bicanovsky continued.
“No child should have to go without. Children are our business. They’re going to be happy kids on Christmas,” she said, referring to Saturday’s attendees.