
 
        
         
		Holiday toy drive queen, overcame demons to help others 
 BY KYLE VUILLE 
 Following a 20-year tradition, Lynne  
 Corry and her army of ‘elves’ are upping  
 the  ante  this  holiday  season  by  
 handling and distributing toys to over  
 1,600 kids in NYC. 
 However, as impressive as today’s  
 effort is the holiday grand toy donation  
 and drive was born from one remarkable  
 woman’s holiday season dispair.  
 Over two decades ago, fi rst-time  
 mother, Lynne Corry, sat inside the Samaritan  
 Daytop drug treatment facility  
 while her newborn son was miles away  
 from her in a hospital.  
 The scene was bleak and Corry  
 looked around the room at the other  
 women in facing similar situations. 
 “I remember sitting there, thinking  
 ‘how can I make this place and these  
 people more cheery right now?’” said  
 Corry. 
 That’s  when  the  idea  of  delivering  
 toys to the children and families facing  
 the same trials and tribulations as her  
 and other mothers at Samaritan Daytop  
 came to be. 
 Corry’s background in sales kicked  
 in and she instantly got on the phone to  
 fi nd toy donors. 
 That holiday season was the start of  
 a new sobering lifestyle for Corry when  
 she vowed to create a better life for herself  
 and her son, Tyler. 
 Since that year, Corry has worked  
 with countless individuals and organi- 
 Left to Right: Tyler Smyth, Lynne Corry, Joe Corry stand behind a table of gifts to be donated for the holidays. Lynne Corry was once a client  
 at Samaritan Daytop Village, a drug treatment facility, when her son, Tyler, was just an infant. Since her recovery, 21 years ago, Lynne and  
 Tyler return every holiday season to Samaritan Daytop with gifts for mothers currently in the program.  Kyle Vuille/Schneps Media 
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 BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D 4     ECEMBER 13-19, 2019 BTR 
 zations to make the holidays special for  
 those  caught  in  the  spiral  of drug use  
 like she once was, those many years  
 ago. 
 Corry found herself extremely lucky  
 to have the opportunity to raise her  
 son and stay drug-free for over 20 years  
 now. 
 Corry said she lives a mostly normal  
 life now in a two-family house in  
 the Bronx near the park that she slept  
 homeless  nights  in  as  young  drug  addict. 
 She  joked,  “I  used  to  sleep  in  the  
 park, now I work for the Parks Department.” 
 Corry’s son is now in college and  
 still very much a part of the toy drive as  
 he was when he was the inspiration behind  
 his mother’s recovery. 
 Tyler is now 22 and attends Mercy  
 College and studies exercise science  
 and works as an assistant for a physical  
 therapist. 
 Tyler said his fi rst memory of being  
 a part of the toy drive was as a middle  
 schooler and being just as excited about  
 collecting the gifts as those receiving  
 them. 
 Through the years, Tyler’s friends  
 have  joined  in  the  holiday  giving  and  
 he found a new appreciation for the  
 cause. 
 “Around senior year of high school,  
 I realized  it was really making an  impact,” 
  Tyler said. “My old lacrosse team  
 does it every year now, it’s not just me  
 and my friends, it has spread so much.” 
 The holiday drive has proved to be  
 more than a family affair and those at  
 Samaritan  Daytop  have  been  touched  
 by Corry’s and Tyler’s actions as well. 
 Harry Scott, assistant vice president  
 of residential treatment at Samaritan  
 Daytop said he’s known Corry for four  
 years now. 
 “Lynne came in the program many  
 years ago and has continued to return  
 every year,” Scott said. “She comes with  
 her son and his friends and bestows  
 greetings, hope and gifts for the women  
 and children here.” 
 Scott emphasized how much Corry  
 appreciates the efforts of these women  
 and how hard it is for these women to  
 get through the holidays, let alone move  
 on with their lives.  
 “What really makes it powerful is to  
 have these women with infants in their  
 laps and they see this woman who sat in  
 the very same seat, but there she stands  
 with her son all grown up,” Scott said.  
 “It really brings a message of hope and  
 provides an  example of what  they  can  
 achieve.” 
 Corry said this wouldn’t be possible  
 without her sponsors and contributors.  
 Major  contributors  throughout  the  
 years  have  been  Cardinal  Spellman  
 High School, Five J’s Automotive, Cummins  
 and Owens Bros. Tree Service. 
 “All those folks have roots in the  
 Bronx,” Corry said. “It’s all Bronx  
 love.” 
 To make donations, Corry has a registry  
 with Target that can be found by  
 searching Lynne’s Holiday Toy Drive.  
 “We’re  really  bringing  it  this  year,  
 and we’re bringing it with joy,” Corry  
 said.