COURTESY PHOTO
Pictured from left to right are Andrew Lindsey, Josh Hodgdon, Codi Sullivan, with Nick Grzela below.
For Andrew Lindsey, growing up in Lynn exposed him to not just the joys of the holidays, but the struggles. When he read an article in The Daily Item about a single mother who said she was having a hard time providing Christmas gifts for her three children, he wanted to help.
“My friends and have all been blessed with good Christmases and opportunities and we thought it would be nice to give this mom a chance to do that for her children as well,” Lindsey wrote in an email to The Item.
Along with a few of his friends, Lindsey decided to host a ugly sweater-themed holiday party. But a party alone wasn’t enough. And with that, the party became a fundraiser for Item Santa.
The friends sold tickets to attend the party, along with asking local businesses for gift card donations. The Lazy Dog, Tony’s Sports Bar, Rolly’s and Carrabba’s all donated gift cards, Lindsey said.
Prizes were raffled, including a brand-new television and movies donated by Nick Grzela, one of the organizers. Huron Consulting in Boston, who employs Grzela’s mother, also agreed to match the total donation up to $500.
“We had a lot of fun planning and organizing the event,” Lindsey wrote to The Item. “We hope that it becomes an annual tradition and we can build on it and continue to raise money for a good cause.”
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