Office staff plays Santa for local family in need
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Just call Trenton Bishop, owner of Physical Therapy Works, this city’s Santa.
He and his 40-plus staff members – er, elves – have been busy working to bring Christmas to one Suffolk family.
Just as it has every year since 1992, the firm adopted a family – five children who live with their grandparents – for the holiday.
The youngsters, ranging in age from 6 to 14, wrote wish lists for Santa earlier this month.
That’s when the elves got busy, said Wendy Johns, who spearheaded the office’s holiday project.
Employees circulated the list and people signed up to bring in different things, she said.
&uot;People went out and bought the things kids had been wishing for, wrapped them up and brought them in,&uot; Johns said.
The group collected an estimated $1,000 worth of toys, including two bicycles, computer games, remote control cars, and other toys and clothes for the entire family.
This past Friday, Johns and her fellow elves Marsha Wykes and Dana Blair made an early Christmas delivery to the family.
&uot;They were so grateful and we were glad to be able to help them,&uot; said Johns. &uot;Doing something like this really makes you realize how blessed we are.&uot;
Bishop said he is proud of his staff.
&uot;Each year, I am overwhelmed by the generosity of our staff,&uot; he said. &uot;This is what Christmas is about, giving to others, caring for others.&uot;