What started as a toy drive by a 5-year-old after Superstorm Sandy hit the coast of New Jersey in 2012 has turned into more than a decade of giving by a New Jersey teen.
Every October, Madison Szumera, now 17, prepares for her annual Holiday Toy Drive. When she was in kindergarten, she was so moved by kids who lost everything in the storm that she wanted to make sure they could replace their clothing, toys and personal belongings before Christmas.
During the first two years, Madison donated the collected toys to the RAINE Foundation in Hazlet. The following year, she donated the toys to Operation Jersey Shore Santa. Both foundations benefitted families affected by the destruction of the storm.
Since then, Madison has put her efforts toward Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital and Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital, both in New Brunswick. “Madison shifted her focus to a children’s hospital following the loss of her childhood friend, Ryan, to cancer in 2015,” her mother Dineen told New Jersey Family. “He was a 9-year-old boy who lost his battle to cancer. With the destruction of Hurricane Sandy having subsided and the loss of a friend, Madison felt compelled to strive to provide children who were ill or in the hospital with toys in anticipation that they would feel as happy as possible during the holidays. Madison wanted to do something that had the potential to put a smile on every child’s face.”
Madison leveraged the power of social media; the support of her family, friends and neighbors; and the school community at St. Benedict Catholic School in Holmdel, to increase her toy collection each year, reaching into the hundreds. She lives in Old Bridge but is a junior at St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel.
2023 was Madison’s 12th year hosting her toy drive, and she collected 938 toys for both hospitals.
But she didn’t stop there. She founded The Madison Foundation (Making A Difference In Supporting Others Needs) so that she can continue to support kids year-round.
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