Lew Fidler Democrats Club holds yearly Toys for Tots event

December 18, 2023 Wayne Daren Schneiderman

The interior of the Lew Fidler Democrats Club.
Photos: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle

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MARINE PARK — The 41st Assembly District Lew Fidler Democratic Club held its 22nd annual Toys for Tots holiday toy drive on Thursday evening, once again dedicating it to the memory of the late Brooklyn City Council member and longtime Democratic political operative for whom the club is named.

The U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots local drive, organized by the club, has donated more than 85,000 toys in the 22 years since the drive’s establishment first began, when they first bundled together just 79 toys for kids.

The event, which took place in a relatively small storefront space on Avenue R near Haring Street, was packed to the gills with a number of Democratic district leaders and community members.

They included Robin Fidler, Lew’s widow; Jennifer Faucher, district leader and state committee member, 41st Assembly District (representing Sheepshead Bay, Flatlands, parts of East Flatbush, Midwood, and Canarsie); Kalman Yeger, councilmember, 44th Council District (representing Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Gravesend Kensington, and Midwood); Frank Seddio, former Kings County surrogate judge; district leader Anthony Jones, 55th Assembly District (encompassing portions of Brownsville and Ocean Hill); former district leader Jacob Gold, 44th Assembly District (which covers Ditmas Park, Kensington, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and parts of Borough Park); and Capt. Joseph Antonio, commanding officer of the 61st Precinct.

“This is all about putting smiles on the faces of the many children who would otherwise not have a toy for Christmas,” Faucher said to the capacity crowd.

Yeger pointed out that “warmth and amazingness” has been transmitted to thousands and thousands of children in the form of 85,000 toys collected over the last two decades and the tens of thousands of dollars that were raised to buy those toys.

“This is something that my predecessor two times ago started 22 years ago, and I’m here now trying to fill some gigantic shoes,” Yeger said. “We are not asking anyone to write a political contribution or support a candidate, just to help some kids that need some help.”

Seddio referred to Fidler as “probably the smartest man I’ve ever known in politics.

“This is a legacy that he created — and we miss him dearly,” Seddio said.

Lewis A. “Lew” Fidler (1956-2019) represented Bergen Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park, Mill Basin and Canarsie in the City Council from 2002 until 2013. He left the council after term limits were enacted, and he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Alan Maisel in January 2014.