Giving back and welcoming our new neighbors on Three Kings Day

January 26, 2018

To help give the families who fled the aftermath of Hurricane Maria a piece of home during the holiday season, the New Haven community organized a series of Three Kings Day celebrations to help welcome our new neighbors to our city.

This month, I was honored and humbled to join state Rep. Juan Candelaria, local leader Jhonathan Rivera and Joey Rodriguez to distribute donated gifts to nearly 300 children at John C. Daniels School. Many of these children were among the 180 youth who relocated to New Haven from Puerto Rico.

Three Kings Day – which is an important tradition in Puerto Rico – marks the three wise men’s journey to visit baby Jesus in Bethlehem. This year, to help encourage students all of backgrounds to celebrate the holiday together, the New Haven Hispanic Firefighters Association organized an event at John S. Martinez School where about 250 children participated. Another celebration was also held at St. Anthony’s Church.

These celebrations would not have been made possible without the help of Arte Inc., state officials, and local businesses like Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford, who collected toys and donations from various organizations in the greater New Haven area.

Thank you to all those who helped to ensure these celebrations made everyone feel like a king and queen for a day!

To make a monetary, clothing, gift card or toy donation to the families affected by Hurricane Maria, please contact Danny Diaz of Arte Inc. at 203-787-2783 for more information.