Toy giveaway should inspire others

HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP – Despite his young age, Gio Zappitelli had a generous spirit.
After Gio, 4, died in a tragic accident, his parents, Anthony and Jenifer Zappitelli, wanted to ensure that spirit not only lives on, but inspires other children to be generous, as well, through the GIO (Go Inspire Others) Foundation.
The Zappitelli family paired generosity with the Christmas season to inspire others through the GIO Foundation Toy Giveaway at SPIRE on Saturday, Dec. 20.
“We lost our son, Gio, who was almost 5 years old, in a tragic accident in June of 2024,” Jenifer Zappitelli, GIO Foundation coordinator, said. “At a very young age, Gio just understood giving and gift giving, and took so much joy in that. He loved just making gifts for people, buying gifts with his own money that he saved. We were just so devastated after his loss, and we turned our pain into purpose and did what we thought Gio would want to do, so we host toy drives, coat drives, food drives.”
Jenifer and Anthony Zappitelli, Edgewood High School graduates, use the toy giveaways to honor their son.
“These toy drives are just a way that we continue Gio’s love of generosity and giving, and how we can give back to the community and see kids smiling and help families in need. He loved helping people in need. He’d see homeless people, and he’d be like, ‘Mom, we have to stop and help them.’ He just got it at 4 years old. This is all an extension of what God gave us, and was Gio. The volunteers, the people who help set up everything, we couldn’t do it without them,” Jenifer said.
The couple first hosted a toy giveaway in Gastonia, N.C., where they live, but wanted to bring it to their hometown.
“This is our hometown,” Jenifer said. “This is where we grew up. We have hosted a toy drive in our hometown of Gastonia and we wanted to come home and do this for our hometown community, which we know there was a huge need. We love our hometown.”
Ashtabula County was a special place for Gio, as well.
“This was one of Gio’s favorite places,” Jenifer said. “He thought it was vacation when we came home, going to the beach, so we said we have to go home. We’ve got to do this.”
The event was simple. Families showed up and their children selected toys to take home. Each child left with a large bag full of gifts.
“It’s just first come, first serve,” Jenifer said. “You show up with your family, and we go until the toys run out. Everything is free. Our goal is to put smiles on kids’ faces, take the pressure off families who are struggling during the holiday season, and just give people an experience. We have Santa coming, we have hot cocoa, we have ornament decorating. We have little Santa giveaways. We give in addition to some small toys just to give that holiday experience to those who don’t have it, or just a little extra to those who do.”
The Zappitelli family expected thousands of children for the event.
“We had almost 2,000 at our event in North Carolina.” Jenifer said. “This is our first time here. We don’t know what to expect. We’ve already served, I’d say, 100 families within the first hour.”
The toys for the giveaway were all purchased through donations to the GIO Foundation and Anthony’s company, Zapps Wholesale out of Charlotte, N.C.
“We have roughly 25,000 toys and about a million dollars’ worth of inventory,” Jenifer said. “It’s donations the foundation has received and a donation through Zapps Wholesale.”
Gio would have been smiling from ear to ear had he seen the event.
“We cry multiple times during these events because we know if he was standing here right now, he would say, ‘This is so cool,’” Jenifer said. “He always was excited and flapping his arms, and he would think this just knocked the ball out of the park.”
An army of volunteers made the event possible.
“When I see these volunteers, that alone brings tears to my eyes because of the people who care to support Anthony and I,” Jenifer said. “It’s people that don’t even know us. They just support the cause and the foundation. It’s just so moving that we live in a world where there’s so much bad stuff, but this is what it’s about, and this is what we’re trying to change. We’re trying to go inspire others. That’s what GIO stands for, Go Inspire Others. Be a blessing to people who need a blessing. Just knowing that people want to serve our cause and to continue who Giovanni was, it’s emotional in a great way.”
The Zappitelli family was grateful to everyone who helped with the event.
“We especially want to thank the SPIRE Academy,” Jenifer said. “They have gone above and beyond to help host this event. We’ve had people donate food for our volunteers. We’ve had vendors donate their services. The volunteers have been amazing. We couldn’t have done it without them. We’re so thankful to anyone who shared our posts on social media, brought a flyer somewhere, volunteered or contributed in some way to make this happen.”