Toys Donated To Children At New Brunswick Hospital

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Former New Jersey state Senator Ray Lesniak — a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2017 — visited Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Lesniak, who long represented the 20th legislative district (Union County), visited the New Brunswick children's hospital with Rabbi J. J. Hecht and his team. Hecht is the president of Toys for Hospitalized Children, a Brooklyn-based charity.

This year, Lesniak played a pivotal role in helping Toys for Hospitalized Children reach hospitals in New Jersey. Lesniak and the other volunteers also dropped off toys to sick children at Goryeb Children’s Hospital at Morristown Medical Center and Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth.

Lesniak is a well-known Democrat in New Jersey, and he ran in the Democratic primary for governor in 2017, coming in fourth with Phil Murphy as the winner. While Lesniak retired from the New Jersey state Senate in 2018, he still remains very active with his Lesniak Institute for American Leadership, the non-profit he founded.

Lesniak's wife, Selena Lesniak, died in 2018 at the age of 43.

“We are fortunate to partner with The Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick to bring toys to children, especially during the holiday season when extra holiday cheer is needed the most,” said Lesniak in a statement about his visit Tuesday.

Through the Lesniak Institute, he is still collecting toys for New Jersey children in need: https://www.lesniakinstitute.org/santachildsponsor/

Toys for Hospitalized Children has an interesting story: It was founded in 1953 by a rabbi, Jacob J. Hecht, Sr., who said he was visiting a Jewish boy in the hospital. While there, he noticed a nun giving toys to the Christian children and skipping all the non-Christian children.

"Seeing the sadness in the Jewish boy’s eyes, he ran to the nearest toy store and bought a big red firetruck. He came back and presented the gift to the boy. The boy smiled from ear to ear, and Rabbi Hecht knew he did the right thing," wrote the group on their website.

Today, Toys for Hospitalized Children is a non-denominational non-profit run by Hecht's son. Every year they distribute donated toys and gifts to more than 100 children's hospitals, institutions and special-needs facilities across the U.S. — regardless of the religious affiliation of the child. Well-known political consultant Hank Sheinkopf sits on its board of directors.