Members of the Massapequa Park Senior Community Center made a very special delivery of handmade scarves and hats to families at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island during the holidays. According to group leader Livinia Westervelt, the seniors put their hearts into this labor of love over the past year by knitting and crocheting the items. "We wanted to personally visit the house to donate these gifts," she said.

"We thank the lovely and kind-hearted ladies from the Massapequa Park Senior Community Center for caring about our families enough to make them these wonderful and very useful gifts," said Executive Director Silvana LaFerlita Gullo. "The creativity, originality and craftsmanship of homemade gifts, not to mention the love with which they were crafted, make them worthy of being cherished for a long time."

Located on the campus of Schneider Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House of Long Island is a "home away from home" for families who are caring for a critically ill child. The House accommodates families in a warm and supportive environment. Since opening in 1986, more than 7,500 families from the United States and more than 62 countries around the world have been served. The recent completion of a $5 million expansion project added a four story structure to the existing facility which features 24 new bedroom/bath combinations; expanded play areas sponsored by the New York Jets; several more family and guest lounges; as well as four new kitchen stations. The majority of families that come to the House are from Nassau and Suffolk Counties and the five boroughs of New York City.

For more information about the House, please call 775-5683 or log on to www.rmhlongisland.org.