Centro of San Jose Catholic Charities Celebrates Three Kings Day

Three Kings Day celebration marked an especially exciting and meaningful day at Centro of San Jose Catholic Charities of New Haven as children ages 0 – 13 patiently waited to receive toys donated from the New Haven Community.  Celebrated in January, Three Kings Day, also known as El Dia de los Reyes Magos, is the Biblical story of three kings, Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, who followed a star that led them to Bethlehem, where they brought baby Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The journey is believed to have taken twelve days, beginning on December 25th and ending with their arrival on January 6th. 

As part of a Puerto Rican tradition, many Puerto Rican families in the United States have chosen to combine Three Kings Day with Christmas.  The event was made possible with the help of the staff and volunteers at Centro of San Jose, and the donation of toys from St. George’s Parish of Guilford and Mt. Carmel Church of Hamden, CT.  According to Family Center Director Shital Patel, fifty families and their children, a majority who reside in Fair Haven, had pre-registered for this event, totaling 110 gift-wrapped toys.

The ceremony kicked off with a luncheon, followed by carols sung in both English and Spanish and closed with the older kids from the after-school youth program, dressed up as three kings distributing gifts to all the children attending that day.  Patel added that they were very fortunate this year with receiving most of their donations from local churches from around the neighborhood.   As a supporter of Centro of San Jose Catholic Charities, United Way would like to congratulate them for a successful event and for truly defining the act of generosity in our community. 

About Catholic Charities:

Catholic Charities is a non-profit agency that serves more than 30,000 families of all faiths annually on an as need basis from 34 locations throughout Connecticut. Some of the services they offer to those in need of support are: Pregnancy Counseling; Services to Elderly; Youth Services; Family & Individual Counseling; Migration & Refugee Services; Residential and Support Services for Persons with Developmental Difficulties, and much more.  Their misson is to focus on children as their future, families as the backbone of our society, and the elderly as our link to our roots.