Healing Hearts On Halloween

Sal Dragone used to go trick-or-treating as Elmo or Elvis.

But this Halloween, the Clearview Regional High School sophomore will once again be Santa Claus.

He won’t need a costume. His charity, Healing Hearts on Halloween, plans to distribute holiday-theme gift bags to more than 1,500 hospitalized or institutionalized children in South Jersey, Philadelphia, and beyond.

“It’s a cool feeling,” says Sal, 16, relaxing in the kitchen of his family’s Mullica Hill home. “It’s not something you can explain.”

Let’s give it a shot – particularly the part about Healing Hearts’ getting its start in 2001, when Sal was all of 7.

“I had the idea when I was out trick-or-treating,” he recalls. “I was just thinking about the kids who were sick and couldn’t go out. I wanted to give them my candy.”

“He’s always had a good heart,” Sal’s mother, Felicia, chimes in.

“He was so bothered” by other kids missing out on his beloved holiday, she says, noting that Sal’s younger brother Anthony – now 13 and healthy – was ill when the two were little. Anthony is now an enthusiastic supporter of Healing Hearts.

The nonprofit organization collects monetary donations to purchase and distribute the bags of goodies – which, as per various hospital regulations, include no candy.

Since mid-September, shipments of small gifts have been arriving at Felicia’s office, Prudential Fox & Roach in Mullica Hill. “Once mid-October hits,” she says, “things get insane.”

Between 30 and 40 volunteers – some of them elementary students who return every year – have helped fill bags. Adults will deliver them to regional hospitals and other facilities. Healing Hearts also mails a shipment to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

“I can’t take credit for all of it,” Sal says. “I couldn’t have done it without my family.”

Unlike many well-intentioned impulses, youthful or otherwise, Sal’s desire to help sick kids enjoy Halloween didn’t diminish over time.

“I remember he wanted to sell his toys to make money,” Felicia says. “I looked out the window, and he was bringing them to the school-bus stop.”

Rather than sell playthings, Sal opted to raise money by soliciting from local businesses. Before the charity even had a name, “it started breathing on its own,” says Felicia, whose husband, also named Sal, is also in the real estate business.

A story in a local newspaper provided an early boost, and a TV appearance did even more.

In 2004, Felicia’s mother, Midge Ahlers of Mantua, wrote a letter to Tony Danza’s syndicated daytime talk show and got Sal an on-air interview about his unique way to pay it forward.

After the show, donations, sponsorships, and fund-raisers grew, and more and more gift bags were delivered to hospitals such as Cooper, Kennedy, and Underwood-Memorial, as well as the Ronald McDonald House in Camden.

“Sal makes a big difference for our kids. He makes their day,” says McDonald House manager Sonia Mixter-Guzman.

“We’re lucky to have him,” she adds. “It’s not like we have 16-year-olds walking in the door every day who care so much.”

Ironically, Sal says, it was easier to raise money when he was younger.

“There’s a difference between a 8-year-old telling a [potential donor] ‘I have my own charity’ and a 16-year-old doing it,” he says, adding that the economy has also slowed donations.

Sal does have other interests, including music. Don’t get him started about the excellence of the Clearview marching band, in which he plays bass drum.

But growing up has not meant his Halloween campaign has gotten old. “I don’t plan on stopping,” he says.

Nor is he afraid of being seen as geeky. It turns out his friends like filling the gift bags.

“It’s kind of cool,” Sal says.

Healing Hearts has taught him “the power of a simple little idea.” And there have been other lessons as well: Each hospital room, and every occupant within, is different.

“You walk in, not knowing how sick somebody is. Or why they’re missing out on Halloween. And then you bring Halloween to them.

“It’s not a chore,” Sal says. “It’s a privilege.”