Christmas Comes to Farmington River School
By Karen Amanti
January/February 2026
I have had the pleasure of helping Tom Soules and Tim and Vickie Murphy raise money for Toys for Tots for many years. I always told Tom, "Wouldn't it be great if we could raise enough money to give every one of the kids at the Farmington River Elementary School a bicycle for Christmas?" He loved the idea, but let's face it—that's a tall order!
Into my life enters a wonderful woman named Donna Flamio. She lives here in Otis, and I was introduced to her at the Knox one night last year. We got to talking and I told her about my bicycle idea. Donna works with the John G. Martin Foundation, a private foundation based in West Hartford. They are “grant givers” focusing on education, volunteerism, human services, and philanthropy. Donna has given thousands of dollars to the Amvets Toy Drive, the Otis Food Pantry and I could tell she really liked my idea for the bikes.
Presents awaiting pick-up Dec 21st. Photo: Terri DiGrigoli
On July 10th of this year, Tom gave me the wonderful news that Donna had secured a grant in the amount of $10,000 for us! I was absolutely floored … this was really happening!
We got to work in October with the FRES counselor, Terri DiGrigoli, and first-grade teacher Meaghan Martin … a.k.a. my angels! This would NOT have been possible without them.
Realizing that not all kids needed a bicycle, they suggested we come up with other items we could offer the parents to choose from. Our final list included bicycles, scooters, roller skates, Kindles, and Legos. An email was sent to all of the parents with information about the grant we reeived, and to choose one gift from our list that they could give their kids on Christmas morning from Santa.
After we received all of the responses and knew the extent of our order, we all met at the Knox Trail Inn with our laptops to place the order on Amazon. While there, Star O’Brien overheard us and asked how her Smile Like Jack Foundation could help, and we told her we needed helmets. Just days later she delivered 52 helmets, as well as many rolls of wrapping paper donated by Sullivan Paper, along with tons of Scotch tape.
Unfortunately, Amazon cancelled our entire order within hours of placing it, thinking we were a scam. After two hours of phone calls over five days, they would not listen to anything I said to prove we were legit. Feeling pretty discouraged, I went to Walmart in Westfield and I spoke with Jeff, the manager, about our mission. He was more than happy to help us, and on November 10th, with Santa’s list in hand, Terri, Meg, and I were greeted by Jeff and his team of helpers, as well as our own designated register and checkout employee.
Terri and Meg were amazing! They really know these kids and their personalities. I listened to them as they discussed each child, before choosing the perfect gift, the right size and color bicycle or scooter, and searching endlessly for a Farm Lego set for a girl who just loved farm animals. All the while, our patient Walmart team stood by us ready to load our carts and pull bicycles down from the racks.
It was in one word, joyful! All of them were strangers to us, but clearly enjoying every moment of our shopping spree.
With the help of Chris Wood, a friend and employee of my husband Mark, along with all of our Walmart helpers (in the rain, no less), we loaded everything into his van and he delivered them to my garage where we could get everything organized and ready to wrap.
On December 13th, through word-of-mouth and group texts, we had a full-blown Santa’s workshop! People brought homemade baked goodies and refreshments, we had the Christmas tunes on, and the atmosphere was absolutely joyous! It took us just over an hour to wrap and decorate 98 gifts, 52 helmets, and the bicycles had giant red and green bows.
Parents were given two pickup dates: December 17th and 21st at the school. Terri, Meg, and I along with Troy and Alice Fluckinger and their snowmobile trailer, transported all of the gifts to the school. It really looked like something out of a Hallmark movie, and we were so proud of how we pulled it all together.
The day for parents to pick up finally came, and when they walked into the school and saw our display, the look on their faces said it all. Some even cried, which really, really touched us. This is why people help one another, it simply feels good to do good.
I can't say thank you enough to Donna Flamio. She took a chance on us, and I think we did a great job. I watched Terri and Meg, two very busy moms, take time from their families to do all of this after school hours, on weekends, and weeknights. They spent hours on this project because they loved what we were doing, and they love those kids.
What an amazing community we live in. Otis and the people who live here are very special, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone who helped to make this happen.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and your family!
P.S. There's extra grant money, so stay tuned for next year!
