John Theissen Foundation and Local Knights Give Gifts at Winthrop

For patients of ’s Hagedorn Inpatient Pediatric Center, it didn’t have to be Christmas time for them to receive an abundance of gifts. 

Members of the Knights of Pythias Mid-Island Lodge No. 828, as well as Nassau County Legislator Dennis Dunne, Sr., R-Levittown, surprised a group of Winthrop’s youngest patients by bringing in bushels of toys and games for them to enjoy.

All of the efforts were coordinated by the Wantagh-based John Theissen Foundation.

Focused solely on providing a sense of amicable relief to children suffering from various serious illnesses in various hospitals around Long Island, for Theissen, the mission is personal.

“When I was 17,” he said, “I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. During my stay, I befriended a little girl named Tasha. Although very ill, Tasha received very little support from her family, and to this day I don’t know why. I just remembered how happy she had been to attend a party the hospital was throwing, one my family had to take her to because otherwise, she couldn’t attend. There, she told Santa she wished for ‘a teddy bear for a friend upstairs’, and that friend was me.”

After he recuperated, Theissen began hosting toy drives around Long Island, vowing to bring a bit of joy to other children like Tasha.

Continuing with this mission, Theissen partnered with the Knights of Phythias to achieve his mission of impacting sick children. Committed to their cause of volunteerism, the Knights came onboard.

Having recently participated in volunteer acts around the tri-state area, including packing boxes for troops overseas and participating in various fundraisers for the Diabetes Research Association, the Knights, along with Theissen, brought hundreds of toys to the hospital’s young patients. 

Drives hosted by the Foundation typically raised about 1,000 toys for children. While the official number of toys collected has not yet been released, each child in the pediatric department received at least one toy.