Boy, 11, Starts Toy Drive For Borough Families in Need

Mikey Gaccione is touching the lives of borough families this holiday season by collecting toys for those in need at Hopatcong Middle School.

Volunteering is nothing new to the Hopatcong 6th grader, a Boy Scout with Pack 91 in Stanhope, who spent 72 hours helping out at the high school shelter in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Inspired by the events from Sandy with the motivation to help others in his community, the 11-year-old came up with the idea to collect toys for families in need all by himself.

He has now started a toy drive at the middle school where residents can donate new and unwrapped toys until Dec. 19. The collection box is located in the main office of the middle school.

Gaccione's mother, Denise Baird Caputo, said her son was already starting to think about ways he could help families during the holidays while he was at the shelter.

"He was planning ahead while the rest of us were wondering where the power was," she said.

Caputo said she saw a posting on the teacher's Hope For Hopatcong Facebook page recently that had mentioned something about donations for the holidays. She told her son about it, and he asked her to reach out to the teachers about his toy drive idea. The teachers then met with Gaccione at school, and the idea took off.

"As a mother, I could not be more proud of Mikey," she said. "He has really proven that there is always something more that can be done. It is important to me that he realizes how lucky so many of us are compared to others."

Eighth grade teacher Sue Hill, who spoke with Gaccione and helped him start the drive, said she was inspired to see volunteerism at such a young age.

"It makes me feel proud to see a 6th grade kid with compassion to do something like this for other people," Hill said. "I was just overwhelmed."

Gaccione, who spent his time at the high school shelter unloading cars, bringing supplies to different storage rooms, organizing the clothing donations, picking up garbage, and keeping residents company, hopes to join the CERT team and continue to volunteer and make a difference in the community.

"It [Sandy] was a huge learning experience for him," Caputo said. "I hope he realizes he made a huge impact on people. I am thrilled he was able to see how our community came together to help each other in a time of need."