The basement hall at St. Augustine's might well be Santa’s workshop this week, except that Santa is in this case a group of dedicated volunteers with one goal: provide children in need with gifts for Christmas. This year, more than 300 children will receive gifts through the Red Stocking Fund.
A large green binder rested on Lorraine Clark’s kitchen counter this week, the pages filled with requests for bicycles, toys, books, art supplies and blankets.
Parsnips, celery root and house-made bacon swam alongside the “usual suspects” in Matthew Safranek’s clam chowder at the 27th Great Chowder Contest in Edgartown on Saturday.
Mr. Safranek, a chef at Atria, joined 10 other contestants in the annual Christmas throwdown, a fundraiser for the Red Stocking Fund that has been sponsored by radio station WMVY for the past 10 years.
Nearly 75 years have passed since the first six Red Stocking Fund recipients most likely opened Donald Duck pull toys and Snoopy Sniffers instead of today’s more popular Furbys and Barbies. This year organizers Kerry Alley and Lorraine Clark are expecting the Red Stocking Fund to make Christmas dreams come true for approximately 475 children, from newborns to eighth graders.
The list this year is for more than 300 children.
And volunteers at the Red Stocking Fund have checked it twice and are already deep into shopping for shoes, warm winter coats and pajamas for needy Island children.
Oh, and don’t forget the bicycles — which are not bought but donated; the 73-year-old fund does not buy toys but accepts donations of them for children.
“My daughter has 12 bicycles in her home,” declared Kerry Alley of Oak Bluffs, who codirects the Red Stocking Fund with Lorraine Clark of Vineyard Haven.
The Red Stocking Fund has put out an urgent appeal to the Martha’s Vineyard community for toys. The fund has received a record number of qualifying applications, with well over 400 children in genuine need this holiday season.
Organizers are asking anyone in a position to donate to bring toys to the Edgartown and Oak Bluffs Schools, or to Grace Church on Woodlawn avenue in Vineyard Haven, between now and Wednesday; arrangements also can be made to have new toys picked up.
