Recently, Town Clerk Kevin LaValle visited Connect Church at 31 Horseblock Road in Centereach, which was transformed into a “winter wonderland” for a party to celebrate the success of EJ'S PJS Pajama Drive.
The EJ’s PJs website explains that it all started with one mission in mind – to give pajamas to children and teens of all ages who need the items the most – and that mission has not changed since 2011 when Patricia Poggi and her sons started the drive. It is a tradition of the Poggi family to always wear what they call their “Poggi Plaid Pajamas” each Christmas and Patricia and her boys wanted nothing more than to be able to provide the same safe, cozy, and warm feeling a pair of new pajamas brings to people around our community who might not be fortunate enough to have. This is what sparked the conversation with her kids to create this ever-growing fundraiser collecting new pajamas to donate to local charities.
This year, the drive collected nearly 5,000 donated pajamas. Santa was also at the event for the children, community vendors surrounded the room, and the Connect Church was turned into a winter wonderland to celebrate the holiday season. Go to EJSPJS.org for more information about how you can help make the holidays a happy, fun and warm time for our neighbors.
Town Clerk LaValle said, "It's an incredible feeling knowing that roughly 5,000 children and adults will have cozy pajamas for this holiday season. Witnessing the tremendous number of donated pajamas was truly inspiring. Thank you to everyone for making such a difference."
Credit: Town of Brookhaven