Robert Ingenito made this Good Friday a great Friday for some children who were stuck in the hospital for the Easter/Passover holidays this year by delivering to them toys and candy that he collected.

Robert, a resident of East Meadow who attends McVey Elementary School, took a cue from his grandparents who do a lot of charity work, and decided to do something on his own to help others. The idea that he came up with was to donate baskets of candy and toys to children who were spending the holidays at Nassau County Medical Center. Robert contacted Linda Walsh, director of therapeutic recreation at the medical center and told her that he wanted to make these deliveries at noon on April 21.

Going to deliver the toys was not a problem for Robert, getting the toys and candy was. He began writing letters to all the businesses and toy stores in the area asking for donations. By the beginning of April K-Mart in Levittown and the M&M Mars Company were the only businesses that responded. At that time Walsh contacted Anton Newspapers and asked to have a letter to the editor run in the Levittown Tribune, asking for the community's help in this project. The Levittown community responded.

Gary Hudes, of Levittown, president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce and vice chairman for this past year's USMC Toys for Tots campaign, knew that there were some toys still available from that program and contacted Toys for Tots about donating the toys to Robert for his project. Over 100 toys were now added to Robert's supply. In addition to the assistance from Toys for Tots, Robert heard from members of the community. His mother, Susan Ingenito, said that letters were sent to papers in several different communities, but they had the biggest response from Levittown. She said that she wanted to especially thank the Levittown community for this overwhelming response.

Robert also received a gift certificate from Toys R Us, thus allowing him to buy even more supplies for his baskets. One woman donated crocheted blankets to be delivered to the babies in the hospital. Children in Robert's class at McVey Elementary School helped him put together the baskets to ready them for delivery.

Much fanfare met Robert as he prepared to make his rounds at the hospital. Several television and radio stations were on hand to chronicle this 10-year-old's efforts. Despite the attention on him, Robert made sure the day was about making children who could not be home for the holidays happy. Along with his mother and grandparents, Robert brought his aunt, dressed as the Easter Bunny and Zippy the Clown, from Serious Fun in Bellmore. As he delivered his baskets, the bunny and Zippy entertained the children. Zippy, who donated his time, sang their favorite songs and did face painting for the children.

Michael DeLuca, chief operating officer of Nassau County Medical Center thanked Robert for his contributions and stated, Úquot;It's a wonderful thing you are doing here.Úquot;

When asked why he wanted to deliver toys and candy to children in the hospital, Robert responded, Úquot;I just wanted to make the kids have a happy holiday.Úquot; And with a little bit of help from the community, Robert Ingenito did just that.