CitiStorage Brings the Holiday Cheer to DUMBO

“Elaine, you’re here! Thank you for coming!” said Hannah Kinn, Executive Director of the League Treatment Center in downtown Brooklyn, as she opened her arms to hug Elaine Brodsky, the co-owner of CitiStorage. “Our very own Santa Claus!” All across the League Treatment classroom—of which there are 15 in total at their downtown campus, one of three in the borough of Brooklyn—toddlers were tearing open gifts and tossing tidbits of wrapping paper every which way. Two weeks early, Christmas arrived in DUMBO on Monday morning, when five CitiStorage employees, along with Brodsky herself, took a trip downtown to deliver 130 gifts to developmentally challenged and emotionally disturbed children, ages 3 to 5 years old—a 13-year-old CitiStorage holiday tradition.
“Thirteen years ago, we decided that instead of having a big Christmas party, we’d do this,” Brodsky explained. “What they really do here, is make miracles.”

The League Treatment Center for Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum and Other Disorders is a Brooklyn-based non-profit organization specializing in day care and early education for children with autism and developmental disabilities. The League Treatment Center provides qualifying Brooklynites with psychological and psychiatric support, and offers workshops for parents and families, teaching skills ranging from how to productively play with an autistic child to how to apply for section 8 housing assistance, food stamps and Medicaid—all at zero cost. Each day, the Center serves 500 children and adults—in addition to child care, League Treatment Center has two other campuses that serve 5-21-year-olds, providing therapy, workshops and vocational job training.
Each year, CitiStorage—a Greenpoint-based archival storage facility that has made a name for itself by ensuring that its employees enjoy a range of benefits such as comprehensive childcare, health care, even gym memberships—works closely with teachers and psychologists at the League Treatment Center to select developmentally appropriate gifts specifically chosen to suit the needs and interests of each individual each child. The planning begins nearly two months in advance of the Christmastime holiday season. Though the educators—and of course, the children—look forward to the toy drive every year, so too do the CitiStorage employees, who have spent the last eight weeks shopping, loading batteries into toys and wrapping boxes in anticipation.
“This is such a great experience for us,” said Walter Aranna, a five-year CitiStorage employee, who was visiting League Treatment Center for the first time. “It gives you a broader, greater perspective on life. It’s amazing.”
“When I first came here, in 2007, I was just learning about social and psychiatric problems these children have,” explained Ronella Pellow, a CitiStorage employee who made her first trip to the League Treatment Center two years ago to deliver gifts. “But since then, my cousin had a baby who suffers from autism. Now it’s more of a personal experience for me, and I’m so happy to give back.” As the CitiStorage staff made a move towards the door of the last classroom they would visit before heading back up to North Brooklyn and getting back to work, a tiny freckled red-headed three-year-old ran after one of them to deliver a bear hug.
“Look at that,” said Brodsky, beaming. “What could be better than this?”
All this week, CitiStorage employees will be paying a visit to all 15 classrooms at the League Treatment Center, making sure that each child has a gift for Christmas.