Local Funeral Homes Collecting Toys & Gift Cards Now Thru Wed., Dec. 6

Stafford Springs’ Introvigne Funeral Home at 51 East Main St.. and Potter Funeral Home at 456 Jackson St. in Willimantic are part of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association’s (CFDA) 17th annual statewide holiday drive to collect unwrapped toys and gift cards for military families and for children receiving medical care. Now through December 6th, they join funeral homes and collection locations across Connecticut that are welcoming donations from the public for Connecticut National Guard's Operation ELF (Embracing Lonely Families) program and for Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital’s Toy Closet Program.

In addition, on Thursday, December 7th from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., people can drop off items to CFDA's 135th Convention at the new Bristol Event Center at 112 Century Drive in Bristol, Conn.

"The funeral directors and suppliers of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association have held our own charitable holiday collection efforts for 17 years, and this is the seventh year we also invite the public to bring donations of gift cards and unwrapped toys to local funeral homes," explains Lionel J. Lessard, Jr., CFSP, President of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association and funeral director himself. "By doing this, we add 46 convenient community sites that supplement Operation ELF’s and Yale New Haven Children's Hospital’s Toy Closet Program’s own collection efforts. We encourage state residents to take a few minutes and come donate an item that can mean so much to another family."

All gift cards, unwrapped toys and funds collected by the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association will be delivered directly to Operation ELF and to Yale New Haven Children's Hospital’s Toy Closet Program before the holidays:

Operation ELF supports families of the Connecticut National Guard and all branches of the military with a loved one in the deployment cycle, who suffer financial hardship as a result of the call to active duty. Operation ELF welcomes gift cards of any dollar value for grocery or department stores, home supply stores, gas stations, and pharmacies, as well as unwrapped new toys for young people of any age.

Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital’s Toy Closet Program supplies toys to pediatric patients when they are discharged from Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, and to units in its hospitals, Emergency Departments, and Pediatric Specialty Centers from Old Saybrook to Greenwich.

Donations of gift cards and unwrapped toys may be dropped off during regular business hours at any of these 46 locations, now through December 6th – The full list of all collection sites is at https://www.ctfda.org/html/operation-elf.php

The 135-year-old Connecticut Funeral Directors Association is comprised of funeral directors at more than 220 funeral homes. For more information about the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association or its holiday collection drive, call 860-721-0234 or 800-919-2332 or visit www.ctfda.org