Reading mayor and city workers deliver gifts to preschool

Reading Mayor Eddie Moran and a crew of city workers might have been mistaken for Santa’s helpers as they carried boxes filled with toys into Pathstone’s preschool.

The age-appropriate playthings will be distributed next week to the nearly 60 children enrolled in the nonprofit’s early-learning center.

“I truly love this time of year,” Mayor Eddie Moran said Tuesday, “Not only is it the season to give, but it’s a time of joy. And what better way to bring a little bit of joy than to give to the little ones.”

This is the third year the mayor partnered with Pathstone, 121 S. Second St.

The nonprofit offers employment training and other human services, including preschool and kindergarten programs for the children of migrant and agricultural workers.

The gift-giving project is not city sponsored or funded, Moran stressed. The gifts are purchased with private donations made by city employees and others.

This year, thanks to an anonymous major donor and collaboration with the United Way, Moran said, enough money was raised to ensure every child at the center will receive a gift.

The number of toys carried into the center took day care director Jennifer Schlegel by surprise. She watched wide-eyed as the conference tables in her office were stacked with stuffed bears, push toys and other items designed to delight preschoolers.

“This is awesome,” she said.

Moran said he also works with other day care and preschool centers in the city, but Pathstone is special to him because it caters to the children of migrant workers.

Such children are often at a disadvantage educationally as their parents follow the harvests, resulting in frequents moves and disruptions to the children’s schooling.

“So we provide services for migrant families in the area who work in agriculture,” Schlegel said.

Pathstone’s migrant and seasonal Head Start programs and other preschool programs can help the children of migrant workers and lower-income families get off to a good start educationally, she said.

“I’m grateful for the work that the center provides to little ones and to parents,” Moran said. “As long as I’m around and can continue to be a part of it, I will continue to be here every year to please the little ones and bring that little bit of joy to this particular center.”

Source: Berkshire mont