POUGHKEEPSIE – Three State Department of Transportation (DOT) workers were on a routine patrol at about 4 a.m. on Thursday on Route 9 near Marist University when they found a garbage bag on the side of the road.
These finds are often the result of someone dumping unwanted trash or recyclables. However, when Luman Doxey, Tim Houck, and Phil Smith opened the bag, they found wrapped Christmas presents labeled “Family No. 25.”
In what could be described as somewhat of a Christmas miracle, those gifts were returned to their rightful owner, Marist’s Department of Spiritual Life and Service (SLS), by noon on Thursday, with the help of some DOT legwork.
“We always know that our workers go above and beyond to do the right thing, and this is just one more example of our DOT team going the extra mile to make a little holiday miracle happen,” said State DOT Hudson Valley Regional Director Julianne Fuda.
Doxey, Houck, and Smith immediately brought the gifts back to a DOT depot, alerting Supervisor Kristopher Andersen of the find. Andersen brought in Public Information Officer Heather Pillsworth, who went into telemarketer mode, calling 12 local charities to see if they were missing any gifts.
Pillsworth said that staff at the Grace Smith House in Poughkeepsie, for whom the DOT recently collected donations, suggested contacting Marist’s SLS. As it turns out, the presents belonged to Marist and fell off a truck during a delivery on Wednesday. Staff from the DOT met with Marist officials on Thursday to return the presents, intended for a less fortunate family through the University’s Giving Tree initiative.
“While we knew it was a near-impossible task to pair these gifts back up with the charitable organization that put them together, we had to try,” Pillsworth said. “One thing led to another, and Family 25 will get their holiday gifts-thanks to the thoughtfulness of our workers and their commitment to serving our communities.”
For more than 30 years, Marist students, faculty, and staff have supported local families in need during the holiday season through the Giving Tree initiative. Since 1993, the Marist community has donated over 23,000 gifts through this cherished tradition. This year alone, the campus community gathered approximately 1,000 gifts.
Organized by the SLS, the program partners with local organizations to deliver gifts generously donated by members of the Marist community.
“The SLS is extremely grateful to Heather (Pillsworth) and our friends over at the Department of Transportation for not only finding the missing gifts but taking the time to call around and locate us,” said Rachel Bischof, Administrative Coordinator of Marist’s SLS. “There are several lucky children whose holidays will be a bit brighter this year because of their dedication.”
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