When The Evening Sun’s float won first place in this year’s Holiday Parade of Lights, we knew we wanted to take our winnings and donate them to a good cause. Yesterday, we did just that.

After weeks of brainstorming ideas, we decided to help the annual Toys for Tots campaign. Chris Ulatowski, the owner of The Label Gallery and the coordinator of the campaign, told me that there was usually a shortage of gifts for children in the 8 to 12-year-old range.

The Evening Sun staff decided to purchase $200 worth of books to help promote literacy and encourage reading, while helping Toys for Tots at the same time.