FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 15, 2016 • THE QUEENS COURIER 51 Holidays 2016 There’s plenty of ways western Queens residents can give to the less fortunate this holiday season BY ANGELA MATUA amatua@qns.com @AngelaMatua Th e holiday season is here, and if you’re looking to donate items to those less fortunate, there are plenty of places looking for your help in western Queens. Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents Long Island City, Sunnyside,Woodside and parts of Astoria, is holding his seventh annual food drive. Th e councilman is accepting non-perishable items such as canned meats, soups, veggies, fruits, infant formula, peanut butter and dried goods such as pasta, rice and other grains. Donations will be collected until Dec. 20 and will go to families in the district. Th ey can be dropped off at his district offi ce at 47-01 Queens Blvd., Suite 205 in Sunnyside from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Th ey will also be collected at Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Court Square and Broadway libraries and at the Ravenswood Senior Center. Councilman Costa Constantinides, who represents Astoria, parts of Jackson Heights, Woodside and East Elmhurst, is collecting coats until Dec. 16. Th e coat drive was coordinated with New York Cares, a nonprofit that helps connect nonprofi ts with volunteers. Coats will be collected at his offi ce at 31-09 Newtown Ave. in Astoria. Th e offi ces of state Senator Michael Gianaris (31-19 Newtown Ave., Suite 402), Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (31-19 Newtown Ave., Suite 401) and Assemblyman Joe Addabbo (66-85 73rd Place) are also collecting coats. New York Cares has also set up its own coat drop-off location at the Sunnyside Library at 43-06 Greenpoint Ave. Astoria Generating Station is collecting non-perishable food items and clothing at 18-01 20th Ave., Gate 1 until Dec. 15. Items can also be donated to Access Self Storage at 29-00 Review Ave. in Long Island City. Amazing Howard Beach light display helps local volunteers BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport One Howard Beach resident is taking his holiday lights to the extreme, but all for a great cause. For the second year in a row, Michael Giglio of the Hamilton Beach section of the neighborhood has used his love for Christmas decorations to help benefi t the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department, by asking for donations from those who come to visit the impressive light display at his home at 102-24 Rau Court — “right near the ‘train to the plane’ near Howard Beach,” he said. Th is year, Giglio has used nearly 45,000 lights, with displays ranging from Santa Claus, snowmen, hot air balloons, snowfl akes, Christmas trees, candy canes, popular cartoon characters and, of course, a Nativity scene. Right near the Nativity display, Giglio will have a donation box where passersby can place money, 100 percent of which will go directly to the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department, which services the communities of Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach and Rockwood Park. He chose the local Fire Department as the recipient for the donations he collects because the fi refi ghters are always there for the community, and Giglio knows they’d come to his rescue in the event of an emergency. “I feel as if the men, when I need them, are there for me. Th ey’re there for me, so why not me be there for them? If my house goes on fi re, or something happens and I need an ambulance, they’re there for me,” Giglio said. He also said that the Fire Department could use donations since it is not federally funded, and he wanted to reassure any visitors who might wish to donate that 100 percent of the money would go to the department. “Th ey’re not federally funded; they’re a nonprofi t organization and they work on donations themselves, and I want the people to know that who do come by and throw a donation in the box to be sure inside their hearts that that money will go to them. It might go for life preservers, it might go for oars, it might go towards training, anything they need. I do not take any money for decorations or electricity costs to myself. Th is is my Christmas gift to them.” Last year, Giglio opened the donation box on Dec. 20, to fi nd only $50 had been donated. He then took it upon himself to go door-to-door on his block and ask for donations for the Fire Department and ended up raising $457 more. Th is is something Photos courtesy of Michael Giglio he hopes to not have to do again this year and that more people will donate. In addition to the donation box, Giglio will be outside his house every night while his lights are on display to meet and chat with visitors, ask them how they found out about his display, and fi gure out what he can do for next year’s display. Setting up the massive display, however, does come with some problems. “I found out that in Hamilton Beach I was not just facing the cold, I was facing the fl ooding, being near the water and the wind,” Giglio said. “Most of my decorations are up very, very high. I was very limited to do what I really wanted to do. I decided everything in my yard was to be put up on top of cinder blocks or wooden blocks to raise it up.” Giglio lights up his yard from 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday through Th ursday, and from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, depending on the weather, from Dec. 1, 2016, to Jan. 2, 2017. Th is weekend starting at 7 p.m., he will have a special guest on hand to treat the visitors, as Santa Claus himself will be there. Michael Giglio of Hamilton Beach decorated his house with a massive Christmas display to raise donations for the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department.
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