Dec. 9—Over 200 needy children in Lackawanna County will have a merry Christmas this year thanks to a South Scranton woman's toy drive. Patty Lee Hack, 43, first did her own informal toy drive last Christmas and figured it was a one-and-done event. She had put the word out on Facebook and collected mostly "gently used" and some new toys to give away. The effort was a success, with over 300 kids in 117 families as recipients.

She didn't plan to do a follow-up toy drive this year, but her reputation on social media as community giver drew her back. She also saw an increased need for a toy drive this year because of inflation driving up the cost of living and hitting needy families hard.

"I wasn't going to do it again but I kept getting too many messages from families that need help, so I had to step up," Hack said. "You can't say no when your hear the stories. You have to help. And this year is worse. It's horrible this year. Nobody can afford it."

Hack also credits Leo's Delicatessen and Marketplace in Archbald as a main prompt for her to do a toy drive this year.

Deli owner David Schwartz said he and his wife, Shana, and their son, Leo, wanted to do a toy drive at their restaurant and heard about Hack having done a drive last year. They reached out to Hack a few weeks ago to find out if she'd be willing to distribute toys collected at the eatery. Hack agreed. She and family members already have picked up from the deli several car- and truckloads of items, including toys, books and bicycles.

"It just took off. You cannot imagine the response we've had" with large numbers of donations, Schwartz said.

Hack's toy drives collect mostly "gently used" and some new toys because dealing only in brand-new toys would be too expensive, and more children can benefit from a mixed drive, she said.

"My motto is, it's (a gently used toy) new to that child" who receives it, Hack said.

A single parent of a 22-year-old son, Hack knows how hard it can be to make ends meet and provide a happy holiday for a young child.

"The way I look at it, I do it for the parents, as well as for the children," Hack said of the toy drive. "The cost of food, how it's gone up, it's so high. It's like Christmas is a luxury you can't afford anymore."

As she did last year, Hack enlisted her mother and aunt, Helen Hack and Dolores Cook, respectively, as her main helpers in the toy drive.

The trio previously formed "Patty Lee's Marvelous Maskers" and publicized via Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they made and distributed thousands of masks.

After mask-making ended, Patty turned her attention to donating Easter baskets to local nursing homes and to the Christmas toy drives. She runs the toy drive on the Marvelous Maskers page on Facebook.

On Friday, Leanne Fisch of Scranton stopped by Hack's home to donate three large bags of gifts and items for teens. Fisch, who has been following Hack on Facebook since the mask making, happened to have items that she wanted to donate somewhere for Christmas.

"So as soon as I saw her post (about the toy drive), I messaged her pictures of the stuff that I had and she said she'll take it," Fisch said.

Earlier Friday, Dolores Cook and her husband, Rob, picked up a carload of donations at Leo's. Rob noted that Hack family members also ensure that all secondhand items are in good condition or in working order before given out.

As of Friday, this year's toy drive had a recipient list of over 200 children from 74 families, Hack said. She plans on storing any leftover toys for next year's drive, "because I said I wasn't going to do it this year but I did it anyway, and I'm not going to be caught off guard next year."

Hack and her mother and aunt liken themselves to "elves" in the toy drives.

"The community is the Santa. Without the community (donating toys), none of this would be possible," Hack said.

emailto:Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185; @jlockwoodTT on Twitter.