Holiday effort’s donors aid LMCS families

By Rachel Zuckerman | Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – Do you know what time of year it is? Yes, you guessed it. It’s the holiday season, a time when we get to spend time with family and friends, laugh and love, and feel joy. Unfortunately, though, some people don’t get to have these experiences.

At Livingston Manor Central School there is a group of people who want to do something about that. They get together each year for Operation Holiday. Operation Holiday is an organization that helps local families by giving them the joyous things that they might not get to have. Manor Ink spoke with one of the group’s volunteers, Gina Ballard, and their biggest donor, Sid Sussan, to learn more about how they operate.

What does Operation Holiday do?

Operation Holiday was first established in the 1990s by LMCS with the help of the Teachers Association, led by Lynn Freedman. It came about because the school’s staff noticed there were families in need of help during the holiday season when it came to winter clothing, food and gifts for their children. The program is funded by donations that are mostly given by school staff and outside donors. Also, in recent years, the staff has held weekly raffles, with the proceeds going to Operation Holiday.

School employees recommend families that could use some help for the holidays, and their names are passed on to a selection committee. The committee then decides which families would be best to help. What the organization does is amazing and is really helpful to those who need assistance.

Manor Ink interviewed Operation Holiday volunteer Gina Ballard to find out how the program works, and also talked to Sid Sussan, the organization’s biggest donor, to learn why, even though he now lives in Maryland, he supports Operation Holiday with his donations.

Experiencing the joy of giving

Ballard said she enjoys shopping for presents and likes helping to wrap them. But what she finds most enjoyable is giving those gifts to families and seeing the look on their faces.

“It takes a lot of people to make it a special time of the year,” said Ballard of the group’s donors. Thinking about doing things for other people and seeing them happy and cheery can make you feel teary with warmth in your heart.

Sid Sussan is Operation Holiday’s biggest donor. Sussan donates to the organization because it reminds him of his childhood in Livingston Manor. He moved here from Arizona as a child and attended kindergarten at LMCS. But his family only stayed one year before moving again. As an adult, Sussan came back to visit a few times, and during those visits he realized that some local kids weren’t as fortunate as they might be. On one of his visits, Sussan heard about the school starting Operation Holiday.

“It was something that struck me as a wonderful community activity,” said Sussan. Once he retired, one of the things he wanted to do was to give back, and he and his wife were able to do that. Sussan found donating “emotionally enriching,” in his words, and he’s been able to help with multiple organizations. Most of them have to do with rural health or education.

Once a year, Sussan calls Ballard to ask if Operation Holiday is still fundraising, and when she confirms that it is, he’s been able to increase the amount he gives over time. He said there is a phrase in Judaism, “tikkun olam” (pronounced tea’-koon o’-lum), which means “repair the world,” and he feels that by helping, he is making the world a better place.

The holidays are a special time for feeling many emotions, some of which come from helping others. We should cherish these times with the ones we love while knowing that others are made happy in the true warmth of the holidays through efforts like Operation Holiday.

To learn how to contribute to Operation Holiday, call LMCS at 845-439-4400.