Menino family handed out holiday cheer to those in need for the 30th consecutive year. Former Mayor Thomas M. Menino's legacy was palpable in Dorchester's Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood, where more than 300 families received gifts.

The Menino family organized this monumental toy drive with help from a tapestry of volunteers, donors, and local organizations. According to the Boston Herald, the event was held at the Catholic Charities Teen Center at St. Peter’s in Dorchester.

"We are those crazy people that hold up the lines at Walmart because we take lists and have five or six carts at a time full of toys," Samantha Menino, the late mayor’s 25-year-old granddaughter, spoke to the scale of their undertaking in an interview cited by the Boston Globe. "Then the toys are in our garage, and we as a family ... with friends and volunteers, everyone shows up to our house and we put the toys in trash bags by family."

"Today, there was a little girl who was taking a picture with Santa as the volunteers were getting her bag, and they brought up a bike and her whole face lit up," said Samantha Menino. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu also stepped into the scene.

"The big, important part to this whole thing is that it’s all about keeping [Mayor Menino’s] commitment to the community alive," Thomas Menino Jr., the late mayor’s son, emphasized in his remarks to the Globe.