Thanks to the efforts of a Jacksonville second-grader and her family, the young patients at Wolfson Children’s Hospital are having a brighter holiday season this year.
That’s because 7-year-old Gianna Capri and her brothers, Anthony and Bobby — with the support of many area businesses and nonprofit organizations — have collected more than 1,700 toys to donate to the hospital. The toys have an estimated value of $20,000.
In addition, a related fundraiser has raised more than $1,000 for Wolfson’s Behavioral Health Department.
The toy drive and fundraising efforts are administered under the name Michael’s ‘Ohana in memory of Michael Alberico, Gianna’s uncle who died in April of a degenerative disease. ‘Ohana is the Hawaiian term for “family.”
The idea for the drive originated with Gianna, who in 2019 was named the Florida Cinderella Tot in the Cinderella Scholarship Program. As such, Gianna organized a holiday toy drive for Wolfson, collecting more than 500 toys.
In the past two years, Gianna has served as a Cinderella Ambassador. After her uncle passed away, she presented a new fundraiser in his memory in June to benefit the Morning Star School in Jacksonville, the only special education school in the Diocese of St. Augustine.
She raised more than $3,000, and donations went toward construction of a therapeutic sensory room at the school.
This year, Gianna and her family wanted to continue the toy drive under the banner Michael’s ‘Ohana. Donors came from all over Central and Northeast Florida, including businesses, schools and organizations in the Ponte Vedra area.
To learn more about the ongoing direct campaign or to make a donation, go to giving.baptistjax.com/fundraiser/3587392.
