October 22, 2022

Annual ‘Hope for the Holidays Toy Drive’/Motorcycle Run to benefit Brightside

REGIONAL
Staff report  

Participants in the 2021 “Hope for the Holidays Toy Drive” pose with Deborah Bitsoli, president of Mercy Medical Center. (iObserve photo/courtesy of Mercy Medical Center)

SPRINGFIELD – The children served by Brightside for Families and Children will be the recipients of the annual “Hope for the Holidays Toy Drive.”

The three-day event will begin on Friday, Nov. 4, and continue Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Walmart store at 591 Memorial Drive in Chicopee. During those two days, new unwrapped toys, gift cards and monetary donations will be collected from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Sunday, Nov. 6, the Motorcycle Run portion of the event will begin from Walmart to Brightside located at MiraVista Behavioral Health Center (formerly Providence Behavioral Health Hospital) at 1233 Main St. in Holyoke, “KSU” at 11 a.m.

The entry fee for the ride will be a donated toy, gift card or a monetary donation. 

Event organizers are Bruce Rivest, Melvyn Hook, and Peter Silvano, who have worked tirelessly to make the “Hope for the Holidays” Toy Drive a successful annual event. Rivest originally contacted the Philanthropy Department at Mercy Medical Center about coordinating a toy drive for Brightside. Adopted as a child himself from Brightside in 1970, Rivest knows firsthand the importance Brightside plays in the local community.

“We are grateful to be able to continue this annual tradition,” said Rivest. “It’s so important to ensure that every child and family supported by Brightside has hope and joy this holiday season.”

Major sponsors of the “Hope for the Holidays” Toy Drive/Bike Run are Indian Motorcycle of Springfield; Camouflage Run in memory of Patrick Rud, ATC Audio, Video and Lighting; Custom Identity Apparel; Haymond Law; Husaria Riding Club of Massachusetts; Long Riders MC; Reds Towing and Recovery; Renegade Souls MC; Sons of Mothers MC; Walmart; Wandering Horsemen; Weasels Western MA; 94.7 WMAS; Attorney James Baker; Sisters of Steel MC; FLNY Ryderz; The Shop;  Chicopee Moose Family Center; C.O.B.B of River Valley; and the Latin American Motorcycle Association.

For more information, or to make a donation to the Brightside Toy Drive/Motorcycle Run, visit the event’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/brightsidetoydrive/