Isles Wives and Girlfriends Go Toy Shopping For Kids

Megan Bailey and Sydney Esiason were perusing the toy aisles at Target on Monday morning. Razor scooters and makeup kits brought back childhood memories of Christmas mornings and the holiday season. If a toy resonated with their younger selves, it went in the cart.
They were a part of the Isles wives and girlfriends group who were at Target in Westbury at the crack of dawn, but they weren't shopping for themselves. Instead, all the toys, dolls, games and everything else overflowing out of their shopping carts is going straight to kids spending the holiday season in local hospitals.

"These kids don't get to be at home on Christmas morning like all of us with our families and our kids, so it's super humbling and we love doing it," Bailey said.

The wives and girlfriends buying the gifts is step one. Step two involves the Islanders hand delivering the presents to children in hospitals later this month.
"It's nice to give back in any way that you can," Grace Lee, wife of Islanders captain Anders Lee, said. "Especially since the guys can personally hand out these gifts, it's really special and something they do every year, so it's good to be a part of it."
The wives and girlfriends made fast work of the toy department on Monday, filling up over 20 carts quickly with toys for infants to teenagers and every age in between. The resident moms, like Brandy Ladd, Cassie Clutterbuck and Bailey, used their inside info to pick out the hot toys of the season.

"It's great ideas for the kids because I think 'oh my gosh, my kids would love this,'" said Bailey, who has two young sons, Wyatt and Mack. "If my kids played with it, oh they'll love it too."
The holiday toy shopping is just one of the many ways the wives and girlfriends help give back to the community. The group recently volunteered at the Long Island Cares Food Pantry and they also help to promote the players individual charity initiatives, like Anders Lee's Kancer Jam, the Matt Martin Foundation, or Thomas Greiss' Hockey Camp.
"We love doing things like this with the team and representing the Islanders," Esiason said. "Being able to represent the guys and this organization while we're doing really good work."