After a year of seeing need for their services only rise, a nonprofit in western Massachusetts is nearly done collecting toys for its annual gift giveaway.
Serving rural western Mass. and beyond, “It Takes a Village” is still taking gift donations this week – all part of an effort to connect families in need with gifts for young ones.
In less than a week, several hundred families are expected to go up and down rows of toys and clothes at the former St. Thomas Church in Huntington, gathering free, donated gifts to ensure there’s something to give during the holiday season.
It’s all part of the upcoming “Holiday Hope Week” organized by It Takes a Village – an annual effort to connect families in need with goods at a time when prices are high and options are limited.
Last year, as many as 650 children received a gift through the effort, well beyond the 500 the group initially estimated. At least 300 were already registered as of Monday, officials say, a week before the multi-day event kicks off.
There’s no lack of demand, says Executive Director Lisa Goding, who adds that every time the nonprofit’s doors are open, long lines are quick to form.
“We'll have up to 200 individuals come in a three-hour period, really overwhelming our capacity, but what do we do? Families need support, and we're committed to being here for them, so we try our best and we're trying to work within what we can afford to provide,” she tells WAMC.
It's far more than just toys being offered by the group. Over the years, the organization’s established a “basic needs free store” for all families in western Massachusetts, with no eligibility guidelines, Goding adds.
Those in need come from near and far, from Albany to Boston to Hartford. Over the past year, the nonprofit’s served families from 108 Massachusetts towns and cities alone.
Many come for the “Village Closet,” open throughout the year, operating in the same space used for the gift giveaway, but with more clothing, household appliances and more being offered.
Sunday's Village Closet hours alone saw at least 75 families line up throughout the morning and early afternoon off E. Main Street.
“It's really through the generosity of community members and some of our sponsors that help support the work,” Goding adds. “We have about 77 volunteers that help go through all of our donations and make sure that everything that we have here is gift-able and something that we could provide to families at no cost. So, really, I guess it takes a village to run a nonprofit, and that's kind of what we're doing here.”
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., donations also made their way into the building. One local man stopped by with an entire crib set and dutifully brought it downstairs to be inspected by the group’s small army of volunteers.
Patricia Poteat guided him and WAMC through an assembly line of local women sorting, packing and cleaning toys, clothing and more in the church basement.
“You want families to have not only safety when they get items from here, but dignity. It's not enough to just hand someone a shirt and be like ‘Oh, it's got a stain on it, but it's not a big deal’ - it is a big deal,” she explains. “[If] you send little kids to school in sneakers, you want them to be clean and sturdy. You don't want people to feel like they're needy or desperate."
"You want [to support] … not just people who are in need financially, but people who believe in that closed-loop system of recycling," Poteat adds. "We want to make sure that the coats are in good condition, that the toys are safe and have all the parts are put together in a new way that keeps it usable.”
Along one basement wall that Sunday was an array of toys ready for next week. Along another sat boxes of diapers – stretching the wall’s length and height, making up one of the biggest diaper banks in the region - many coming from Baystate Health and United Way, Poteat says.
As many as 106,000 diapers were provided last fiscal year, in addition to $900,000 worth of essential supplies being distributed. That, and 440 postpartum home visits made by the nonprofit’s outreach team - Goding tells WAMC the group’s home visit program is one of its most sought-after services.
Ultimately, the group estimates at least 10,000 individuals were served in FY24 - a number that's only been rising over the past year, Poteat says.
Among those helped out Sunday – Kara Barnes, who tells WAMC that she and her girlfriend just found out about the group and made the trip, hoping to secure new clothes as Barnes continues to deal with housing insecurity.
“Oh, my God, there's not enough places like this,” Barnes says. “I've been homeless in Holyoke before and there's no resources out there: it's awful. Springfield is not too, too bad. But this - they need more places like this, for sure.”
Multiple locations around the region, including stores and police and fire departments, are still collecting gifts through the coming weekend. A list can be found on the group’s Facebook page. The group also maintains an Amazon wishlist.
Goding adds that LEGOs tend to go fast – and that gifts for kids ages 11-17 are always in demand.
For families looking to take part in “Holiday Hope Week,” pre-registration with It Takes a Village is required. In the event toys are left over, officials say the excess goods will likely be opened to the public on Thursday, Dec. 18.
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This story originally aired on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025.
