Elfie’s House

01/09/2026

To the community who supported Elfie’s House. This is Dawns daughter, Brianna.

On December 30th Dawn passed away. Our family is devastated and we are missing her more than words could ever say.

We wanted to share the arrangements with everyone’s lives she has touched.

My Mom absolutely loved everything that Elfie’s house consisted of.

Thank you all for always supporting her and being a piece of the reason so many children had a beautiful Christmas.🧑🏻‍🎄🎄

Celebrate the life of Dawn Castronuovo, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of Thos. L. Shinn Funeral Home.

10/17/2025

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
In 2022 we started Elfie’s House with a goal of 100 toys out of our driveway. Within a matter of a few weeks we collected 1,210 toys that year that went to our local children. We decided to do it again in 2023 resulting in 2,030 toys and 2024 resulting in 1,873 toys. For a total of over 5,000 toys the last 3 seasons they went to our local children. I am sad to say that we are selling our home at 41 Deck Street (Elfie’s House) and unfortunately this is where this journey will end. I want to say Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that supported me and trusted me to lead this village of amazing givers that we created. None of this could’ve been accomplished without your generous donations, shares and support. First and foremost I would like to thank my family and friends for supporting and believing in me as well as all of their help along the way. To all of my drop off locations thank you for being part of this journey with my family and making a difference in so many children’s lives. I have made so many incredible relationships because of this mission that I will treasure forever. Thank you to all of the news outlets that covered our story and helped spread the word, it truly helped us grow. To all of those who visited our home and came to our events I hope you enjoyed our decorations as much as we enjoyed lighting up our community. Moving forward if you choose to donate I encourage you to donate to your local police departments as they will make sure all toys get into the hands in need. My contact with Barnegat PD is Zach Santos who is an amazing officer and human so if you need any further information you may contact him. Much love and thanks to all of you that have been on this incredible journey with our family and if you don’t think you make a difference in this world, remember one rain drop raises the ocean!!
“Because every child deserves a Magical Christmas”

07/27/2025

We had a great day yesterday doing the Christmas in July event and appreciate Barnegat PBA including us this year! Thank you Barnegat PBA and Gnm Coffeeshop for hosting. Thank you to our amazing Summer Santa and Elfie for braving the heat in costume and the great interactions with the children who came. Huge shout out to Lakewood Police Swat for coming with a huge toy donation!! Thank you to Barnegat Pride for their donation and support and to EVERYONE that dropped toys at our home prior to the event and everyone else that took time out of their day to visit and donate toys. It was a special day for a great cause as we continue to do our best to help our community during Christmas.
“Because every child deserves a Magical Christmas”

07/24/2025

We are so excited to be a part of this event! Stop by and say Hi! It’s going to be so much fun 🎁

07/17/2025

Thank you so much to the Elves that have donated these toys for the Christmas in July Event!! We hope to see you at the event and if you can’t make it and wish to donate toys they can be dropped off at Elfie’s House 41 Deck Street in Barnegat until 7/25 and will be brought to the event! Thank you again for this great head start to Christmas! “Because Every Child Deserves a Magical Christmas!

07/13/2025

Event reminder! 7/26 Come join us for some Christmas in July fun 🎄🏝️

We are SO excited to announce that we will be joining Barnegat PBA 296 for their Christmas in July Toy Drive! Come join us for a morning of FUN! Our resident Elf “Elfie” and the coolest Summer Santa will be there to take pictures! If you can’t make the event and would like to donate we will be accepting toys until 7/25 at Elfie’s House 41 Deck Street, Barnegat and they will be brought to the event. “ Because every child deserves a MAGICAL Christmas” Hope to see you there 🎄🏝️

07/07/2025

We are SO excited to announce that we will be joining Barnegat PBA 296 for their Christmas in July Toy Drive! Come join us for a morning of FUN! Our resident Elf “Elfie” and the coolest Summer Santa will be there to take pictures! If you can’t make the event and would like to donate we will be accepting toys until 7/25 at Elfie’s House 41 Deck Street, Barnegat and they will be brought to the event. “ Because every child deserves a MAGICAL Christmas” Hope to see you there 🎄🏝️

12/24/2024

We made the 5:00 NBC channel 4 news tonight. Here is the clip on Elfie’s House. I am so grateful and thankful to everyone in our “village”, once again you all came through and made this Toy Drive such a huge success for the 3rd year in a row. Ever since I started this, Christmas morning has had an entirely new meaning to me. To everyone that donated I hope you take a moment and envision a child’s smile tomorrow because of your kind heart. I am so proud of all of you for making this a MAGICAL Christmas for so many deserving children. Thank you again for all of the support and trusting me to lead the way. “Because every child deserves a Magical Christmas” Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🎅🏼🌲🎁❤️

12/23/2024

What a thoughtful gift from a coworker ❤️This is so special to me that she took the time to hand make this for me🌲🎁🎅🏼

12/20/2024

Thank you to everyone who visited our display and voted for us! 🎅🏼🎁🌲

12/20/2024

🎁🌲🎅🏼

12/19/2024

Update: We had a lot of toys come in after our finale post and our total toy count this season went from 1,703 to an astounding 1,873 toys. We were able to help so many more children than we anticipated. This year in addition to Barnegat PD and Stafford Recreation/PBA we also distributed to: Little Egg Schools, Vetworks, Santa’s Elves for Jersey Shore, Helping Assist with Melis and Jersey Shore Pediatric Care Unit.
Thank you all so much!! This is the MAGIC! It’s so amazing what can be accomplished when people unite and come together ❤️
Here is a recap of our 2024 Holiday Magic Toy Drive. “Because every child deserves a Magical Christmas” 🎅🏼🎁