Mangaluru: Johnlyn Toys, founded and led by John B. Monteiro, a veteran English journalist and author, presented toys to 32 children of Class One of St Lawrence Parish, Bondel, Kannada Medium School on March 18, 2023, with the cooperation of the school’s HM, Ms Helen Mary Fernandes and class one teacher Mrs Kokila.
Fr Andrew Leo D’Souza, Parish Priest of St. Lawrence Bondel Parish and Manager of parish schools presided over a brisk function in the school hall. He welcomed the toy presentation idea and appreciated the smart turn-out of the recipient students who presented three well-appreciated song and dance items.
Led by Fr D’Souza and encouraged by him, John Monteiro and his family members took turns presenting the toy hampers to the expectant kids. The function ended with a serving of refreshments to all participants.
Johnlyn Toys was launched by John Monteiro in January 2018, six months after his wife Lynette passed away, in memory of her instinctive love for deprived children. Johnlyn Toys is focused on collecting mothballed toys and presenting them to deserving children who have no means to buy such toys. It had stopped functioning during the Covid period and has now revived its mission. Post-Covid Bondel school outreach is the second such program.
The present lot of toys came from collection boxes kept at the Portuguese Church in Mumbai and were transported gratis to Mangalore by the well-known Canara Transport. At the Mangalore end, Karnataka Agencies (Mahindra vehicles) have been supporting the work of Johnlyn Toys by providing requisite local transport, also a courtesy.
Johnlyn Toys requests households with idle toys in good condition to reach them to Johnlyn Cottage, Bondel Junction. For logistics guidance, please contact John Monteiro on Mobile: 98862 76608. He welcomes new donors to the Johnlyn Toys support group.
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