Bringing Christmas joy to others

The Daily Bean, Andover Police Department, Royal Buick GMC and a local knitting club helped bring Christmas joy to more than 70 children from 31 families in Sussex County through My Brother’s Place, a faith-based nonprofit organization that helps families in need.

For the past few years, the Daily Bean in Vernon has hosted a Giving Tree for My Brother’s Place, based in Hamburg. Patrons take tags from the tree that have a need, a read and a want for each child and return the gifts, which are delivered by volunteers before Christmas.

“The Daily Bean will continue to host the Giving Tree because it’s the season of helping each other and no child should ever go without the magic of Christmas,” said Gina Dobrowolski, owner of the restaurant.

One Daily Bean customer hosted a holiday party where the guests’ entry fee was an unwrapped gift to be donated to My Brother’s Place, she said. ”The generosity of the patrons and community simply amazes me every year. I can’t even put it into words,.”

The local knitting club makes hats and scarves in a variety of sizes, patterns and colors for each child, from babies to teens.

The Andover Police Department donates a wide array of toys, electronics and gift cards for families.

“The donations from the Andover Police Department always seem to fill a need that wasn’t met. This year, we really needed gifts for teens, and gift cards to Amazon, Bluetooth speakers and cosmetic gifts were just what we needed,” said Doreen Baxter, founder and president of My Brother’s Place. “I always love when something is donated without a name attached and it meets a need we didn’t know we had yet.”

This year, Royal Buick GMC of Sussex sent of group of volunteers who spent hours at the organization’s office wrapping more than 350 presents.

“It was an amazing experience wrapping gifts for the families of My Brother’s Place,” said Jodi Benfatti, Royal’s wrapping team captain. “There were organized piles of gifts everywhere! I was thrilled to be a part of it.”

Royal Buick GMC has been a dedicated supporter of My Brother’s Place for many years.

As the primary sponsor of the nonprofit’s annual golf outing and through various charity initiatives throughout the year, “Royal is proud to stand beside MBP and support their personal and vital work with local families,” said Engle Oostdyk, general manager of the dealership.

Baxter said, “I am blown away by the support of our small organization. We work tirelessly to help families who are struggling and to see the community come around us to bring joy and relief to the families we work with is a personal encouragement to me. I could never thank these businesses and their patrons enough.”

For information, go online to www.mybrothersplace.com