drive to collect toys and gift cards for military families and for children receiving medical care. Forty funeral homes and collection locations welcomed donations from the public for the Connecticut National Guard’s Operation ELF (Embracing Lonely Families) program and for Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital’s Toy Closet Program.

Operation ELF supports families of the Connecticut National Guard and all branches of the military with a loved one in the deployment cycle who suffer financial hardship as a result of the call to active duty. Operation ELF welcomes gift cards of any dollar value for grocery or department stores, home supply stores, gas stations and pharmacies, as well as unwrapped new toys for youths of all ages.

Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital’s Toy Closet Program supplies toys to pediatric patients when they are discharged from Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and to units in its hospitals, emergency departments and pediatric specialty centers.

The following locations collected donations on behalf of this year’s event (listed in alphabetical order of town/city):

Avon: Carmon Funeral Home & Family Center

Branford: W.S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home

Bristol: O’Brien Funeral Home

Cheshire: Alderson-Ford Funeral Home

Cromwell: Cromwell Funeral Home

Derby: Edward F. Adzima Funeral Home

East Hampton: Spencer Funeral Home

East Hartford: D’Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel

East Hartford: Goodwin University Funeral Services Program

Enfield: Leete-Stevens Family Funeral Homes & Crematory

Fairfield: Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home

Greenwich: Castiglione Funeral Home

Meriden: John J. Ferry & Sons Funeral Home

Middletown: Doolittle Funeral Home

Naugatuck: Alderson-Ford Funeral Home

New Britain: Duksa Family Funeral Homes

Newington: Duksa Family Funeral Homes

Newington: Neptune Cremation Service

Plainville: Bailey Funeral Home

Prospect: Prospect Memorial Funeral Home/The Palmerie Family Funeral Home

Rocky Hill: Rose Hill Funeral Home

Seymour: Ralph E. Hull Funeral Home

Shelton: Riverview Funeral Home

South Windsor: Samsel & Carmon Funeral Home

Southbury: Carpino Funeral Home

Southbury: Munson-Lovetere Funeral Home

Stafford Springs: Introvigne Funeral Home

Stratford: Adzima Funeral Home

Torrington: Cook Funeral Home

Unionville: Ahern Funeral Home

Vernon: Ladd-Turkington & Carmon Funeral Home

Wallingford: B.C. Bailey Funeral Home and Wallingford Funeral Home

West Hartford: Molloy Funeral Home and Sheehan-Hilborn-Breen Funeral Home

Wethersfield: Connecticut Funeral Directors Association, D’Esopo Funeral Chapel and Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home

Windsor: Carmon Community Funeral Home

Woodbury: Munson-Lovetere Funeral Home.

All gift cards, toys and funds collected by CFDA were delivered to Operation ELF and the Toy Closet Program before the holidays. ctfda.org