Entrepreneurs band together to send 10,000 toys to Puerto Rico
By Nicole Boucher, December 14, 2017
A Long Island entrepreneur is trying his best to provide children in Puerto Rico with a little bit of joy over the holidays.
Kevin Donnelly, 48, of Lido Beach, has set a goal to collect 10,000 toys to be delivered on the day of Los Reyes Magos, or Three King’s Day, which is a major holiday in Puerto Rico, celebrated Jan. 6.
Donnelly was inspired to help after learning that many children were still living in shelters months after Hurricane Maria. He turned to his network of other Long Island entrepreneurs and business owners for help.
First, he asked everyone in the Long Island chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), a global peer networking group of which he is a member, to bring a toy donation to the group’s Christmas party.
“When I started, the first couple days it was just a local thing,” Donnelly said, but soon other YPO chapters across the country and another group, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, also started collecting toys.
Working primarily with two other Long Island members of YPO, Jonathan Brill and Brad Caracciola, Donnelly called the mission Operation Toy Story and launched a Facebook page, website and Amazon gift registry. From Amazon, people can purchase toys and send them directly to Operation Toy Story’s shipping headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, where a company called Cool Transport Jax will handle shipping to Puerto Rico.
