Barbara Corcoran called Monday morning to report that residents of Sparrow’s Point 1 housing had collected toys for the Warwick Police Toy Drive and that officers would be coming later in the day to pick them up.

Barbara didn’t need to convince me that the drive’s success was a good news story we should cover. I told her I would get there before the toys were picked up. It was a plan, down to Barbara giving me her cell number so she could let me in when I arrived.

Over the years I believe I’ve been in all of the city’s elderly housing complexes whether owned and run by the Warwick Housing Authority or Section 8 housing owned and operated by private companies. It might have been chowder and clamcakes or pizza served by incumbent or aspiring elected officials, a 100th birthday party, St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day celebrations, or a member of the state’s congressional delegation was paying a visit. On these occasions just about the full population of these establishments would turn out. I expected much the same thing when I arrived at Sparrows and Barbara led me to the community room.

But I didn’t find people, usually mostly women unless there was a good game of poker, sitting at tables nursing coffee, talking in groups and knitting.

The room was empty with the exception of a long row of tables against one wall. New, neatly displayed unwrapped toys filled the tables under the watchful eye of Sharon Martineau. She was the only Sparrows Point I tenant present other than Barbara.

This seemed simple enough: Get Barbara and Sharon in front of the impressive collection of toys, take the picture, get a few details and be on my way. First, I needed some more light. Barbara turned them on. And then came the matter of being in the picture. Barbara protested.

She said all she did was contribute a toy. Barbara said the drive was all Sharon’s idea. Sharon reluctantly agreed to the photo.

But then as stories can do, this became much more than a toy drive caption. This was a renewal story, a story of coming together and a story of giving.

You see, if you don’t know already, becoming a tenant at one of these developments is not an easy matter. In order to qualify tenants must meet income guidelines and face restrictions on what they can have in their apartments. Even when they meet all the requirements, waiting lists are long and it can be years before a unit becomes available.

All of this goes to say, tenants don’t have a lot of money and are grateful for the little things family and friends give them.

What inspires 150 tenants to reach into their pockets and find $20, $30 or more to buy a gift for a child they’re never going to meet? Sharon offered answers although I hadn’t asked the question.

First there was the brown porcelain teapot Sharon held. In it she had placed a raffle ticket for each of those donating a gift. Two tickets would be drawn after police picked up the toys with the winners getting $50 gift certificates to Walmart.

“Sharon runs the store,” Barbara said.

There’s a store in Sparrows I?

“For basics,” explained Sharon. “Ice cream is the biggest seller.” I understood that.

Barbara suggested Sharon show me the store so we took the elevator to the second floor. The store, no larger than a housing unit, contained shelves of neatly arranged canned and boxed goods, a glass faced cooler with eggs, cheeses and other dairy products. Then there was the large floor freezer packed with ice cream and a smaller standing unit with frozen meals for something quick and when you were tired of your own cooking, Sharon explained. There is no produce or fresh meats.

Sharon searches for bargains – it may be a couple of boxes of Oreos or Lady Fingers at half price at Walmart or Aldi’s for example – and buys them for the store. There’s a slight mark up. The cookies that retailed for $4 at most stores were marked $2.38. Sharon knows the tenants and what they like, going out of her way to fill requests, but always looking for the best price. What small margin is made goes back into the store to cover the cost of service and repairs to store equipment, gas for Sharon’s rounds and the gift certificates. She and others who help volunteer their time. Barbara runs the store a couple of days a week.

As Barbara explained, Sharon came up with the idea of collecting toys for the police drive. She posted a notice in the store and gifts started appearing.

Sharon downplays her involvement and attributes the outpouring to the generosity of tenants and to looking to break away from the gloom and anxiety of the pandemic and helping a cause. Toys became that cause and the store became the hub of the drive. Donations were displayed on one of the racks and tenants got to see the growing collection whenever they stopped in. Sharon was the ringleader.

She doesn’t think of herself in those terms. She wasn’t seeking the spotlight of media attention, or for that matter wanted to be in the picture. It was Barbara who called.

Something larger was at work. Sharon played a key role. The store was pivotal, but it was a community coming together that made it happen. I see it in so many places whether it is giving trees at banks and restaurants, adopt-a-family drives or food and clothing collections.

Warwick is fortunate to have people like Sharon and so many givers like the tenants of Sparrows Point I.