Susan Menino Fenton, right, handed out gifts to youngsters at the St. Peter's Teen Center on Christmas Eve. Caleb Nelson photo

Memories of the late Tom Menino filled the gym in Saint Peter’s Teen Center on Christmas Eve. Hundreds of kids gathered with their families for a Christmas Eve tradition.

Black bags full of gifts and gift cards lined the walls of the gym as volunteers from Catholic Charities and College Bound Dorchester distributed them for parents to take home and wrap-up later. Meanwhile children thronged around a stage piled with footballs, basketballs, doctor play sets, markers, board games, and piles of books and clothes.

Partnering with Catholic Charities, the Menino family shopped for the gifts using wish lists collected by community centers in the Bowdoin-Geneva area. Susan Menino Fenton managed the distribution, displaying t-shirts and books, one by one for the children to choose.

“We organized it a little better this year so there wasn’t so much chaos,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that they got books, and hats and gloves and things like that, just to have a great Christmas, not to worry about the outside stuff, just to enjoy their family and have a good time.”

It all started on the first Christmas Eve of Menino’s administration, in 1993, when Boston’s new mayor walked down Bowdoin street to distribute gifts, stopping to chat with each family he met. The walk became a tradition, and a few years later, after his second mayoral election, Menino partnered with Paulo Amado De Barros, Director of Catholic Charities Teen Center at Saint Peter’s, to bring his effort indoors.

Barros remembers when kids mobbed Menino’s car the last time Boston’s beloved mayor participated in the giveaway.

“Just like Mayor Menino cared about the kids, the kids cared about him,” Barros said. “It’s exciting for me to continue the legacy of a man that was important to a city that I care a lot about.”

“I’m still emotional about it. It brings back memories of the partnership we had with Mayor Menino, and I’m glad his family and friends stepped up to care about people in the Bowdoin-Geneva community,” Barros said. “I could see him just smiling now.”

Danielle Alexander, who grew up around Fields Corner, heard about the event through a family member who knew she needed Christmas help.
“I just moved into my apartment, just had a baby, so everything’s been a ripple effect all at once, so we weren’t really doing Christmas. It was more of the necessities instead of toys and all of that stuff,” Alexander said. “I’m glad the kids are all here, and they’re happy. It’s a time out, because Christmas wasn’t really something that we planned for.”

Team Menino started gathering donations for the gifts in mid-December, Tom Menino Jr. said, and Bostonians gave without hesitation. “I can’t say as much thanks as I want to,” he said. “Today is a great day for our family, but it’s also a sad day, because my father’s not here physically. His spirit is alive. You can feel him. Our kids helped out. This is what it’s all about. He was all about helping the kids of the city of Boston. That’s all we want to do is continue in that spirit.”

The last time Mayor Menino attended the event, in 2013, he called the Bowdoin-Geneva area, “a community I’ve always looked to, a community involved in the issues.” He encouraged then Mayor-elect Marty Walsh to keep his finger on the pulse of the area.

On Thursday, Mayor Walsh arrived to the event with Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans after most of the gifts had been distributed. He talked with the Menino family, and threw a football back and forth with a few of the volunteers before heading down Bowdoin Street to wish people in the community a Merry Christmas.