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Operation Pajama Elf 2022 a Success

Jan 09, 2023 12:46PM ● By Steve Sears

The result of Operation Pajama Elf 2022 -- serving 200 children at the Newark YMCA and in Mount Olive

Penny Vanemon-Chatterton recalls the childhood memory fondly. “The Pajama Elf would bring my sisters and I a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve,” she says. “Hence the name of what we do.”

Now in its sixth year, Operation Pajama Elf has been gifting children who live at the Newark YMCA brand new pajamas every Christmas Eve.

Penny Vanemon-Chatterton and her husband, Justin Chatterton

 In 2021, 67 pajama donations were made to every child that lives at the Newark YMCA courtesy of Vanemon-Chatterton, her husband Justin, the Deborah Burke Group of realtors (for whom Vanemon-Chatterton works), and the generous folks of the community.

In 2022, the need had risen. The initial goal number for the Newark delivery was 104, but donations rose considerably above that number. Therefore, Operation Pajama Elf has also been able to help children in need in Mount Olive itself. Vanemon-Chatterton made a delivery of almost 80 pairs of pajamas to Mary Lalama Nicastro, so almost 200 children were recipients of new, warm pjs. “It’s really incredible,” Vanemon-Chatterton says.

“My husband and I started doing this in 2017,” Vanemon-Chatterton explains. “Sometimes you seek opportunities, and sometimes they find you, right? He had been working with a colleague of his to collect items for the homeless in Newark, and it was something that his colleague's mother had spearheaded for many years. In doing that work, Justin learned that the YMCA in Newark had a need for new pajamas for all of the children who were calling it home at the time. It also happened that there were a very large number of veteran families who were housed there at the time. My husband is a veteran, and it just spoke to him. Without hesitation, he said, ‘We'll do it,’ and he came home and told me there were 140 children at that time, and this was two weeks before Christmas. We did it, and we've been doing it ever since. It's been an amazing experience.”

Donations come mostly from the community of Mount Olive, but Vanemon-Chatterton's personal outreach is to her friends and family wherever they are located. Therefore, pajama donations in 2022 arrived from as far away as Texas and Oklahoma. ‘The lesson to me is that it doesn't matter where the need is. If it speaks to someone, they'll contribute,” she says.

Vanemon-Chatterton is quick to credit all those who donate, but especially the community of Mount Olive. “The support of the Mount Olive community, specifically, has just been unbelievable,” she says, and then she elaborates on her personal feelings about Operation Pajama Elf. “First and foremost, it's a feeling of gratefulness. It's the outpouring of love from people. It's just incredible. But then, it's also very humbling and sobering. With so many people who are in need - and it's people from all walks of life, you just never know what life's going to hand you - it's a bit sobering. But, of course, it’s a very joyful experience, too, because we've seen firsthand just how excited the children get over a pair of pajamas.”

Even though the major focus for Operation Pajama Elf is from Thanksgiving forward to Christmas Eve, donations are welcome all year long. Pajamas can be dropped off at 10 Oakland Road in Budd Lake, and for more information, Penny Vanemon-Chatterton can be contacted at (908) 672-0781.