Toys for Tots Brings Christmas to Doylestown

Ann Silverman Community Health Clinic recently held a cheerful Christmas celebration for the families of the clinic’s patients at Doylestown Hospital.

Toys for Tots offered 400 presents, which were distributed to the children of the free clinic’s patients.

Thanks to the clinic’s gracious donors, the celebration was filled with the joy of the season.  The families expressed gratitude for the presents, which was reflected in the enormous smiles on the children’s faces.

Lawanda Goehring, Operations Director and Nurse Practitioner for the Silverman Clinic, was equally delighted with the celebration. She said the clinic's adults patients had not been looking forward to another Christmas season knowing they would not be able to buy gifts for their children.

"Giving to the children was an enjoyable experience and the hallmark of my Christmas," Goehring said. "Most patients commented that if it were not for the toy donations at the party, their children would have had no gifts this Christmas."

The Ann Silverman Community Health Clinic is an independent, private, not-for-profit 501c(3) charitable organization. It provides free medical care, dental care and social services for more than 1,000 uninsured residents annually.

More than 200 volunteer doctors, dentists, hygienists and nurses supplement a small paid staff. Community donations, foundation grants and facilities donated by Doylestown Hospital provide financial and material support.

The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program gave the generous donations of presents. The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help less fortunate children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas, to play an active role in the development of children and to contribute to better communities in the future. 

Mike Ratajczak, Executive Director of the clinic, expressed his thanks to all the staff, volunteers and families who participated and made the event such a success.

"We achieved our goal of providing even more than medical and social services, and were able to bring a bit of joy to some of our less fortunate neighbors and  members of the community," he said.

The Silverman Clinic, formerly the Free Clinic of Doylestown, was founded in 1994 and has provided over 45,000 medical and dental visits to nearly 10,000 adults and children.

To learn about volunteer opportunities or to make a donation, visit www.ASCHealthClinic.org.