Hundreds gathered in Limewood Park on April 6 to celebrate the grand opening of Hamilton Township’s newest playground — one with deep sentimental meaning for many of those in attendance.
The sign above the walkway leading to the playground reads, “Joey’s Place.” Joey is Joey Angiolino, a township resident who was diagnosed in 2009 with Hurler’s Syndrome, a rare genetic disease. He was seven months old.
Joey’s parents James and Nicole Rogers Angiolino, tried every treatment for Joey in the fight to overcome the illness. Despite their best efforts, Joey died in the pediatric intensive care unit of Duke University Hospital in July 2010.
In honor of their son, they created Joey’s Little Angels, a nonprofit organization that raises money with the aim of donating it to pediatric hospitals across the country.
Joey’s Little Angels also joined forces with a regional nonprofit organization, the Where Angels Play Foundation, to build the playground in Limewood Park that bears Joey’s name.
April 6, the date of the grand opening, would have been Joey’s 14th birthday.
“This has been a priority for us, building this playground and making it as special as it is,” said James Angiolino, who serves as the chairman of the board for Joey’s Little Angels. “Every day when I go by there or my wife goes by, it is always packed. Our goal was to make it a place for families to make memories.”
Joey’s Little Angels may be best known for its holiday toy drives. Each fall, the organization collects toys with the goal of donating them to pediatric hospitals around the country, donating more than 40,000 toys to date.
But the nonprofit has other missions as well. To date, Joey’s Little Angels reports having raised more than $250,000 to donate to the Duke Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Family Support Program and other families who have a child seeking medical treatment. In the next few years, Angiolino says the organization hopes to increase distribution from nationwide to worldwide.
Joey’s Little Angels also raised more than $100,000 to help fund the playground project, which has been in the works since before the pandemic. The Angiolinos had originally hoped to break ground in spring 2020, but the coronavirus crisis forced delays of more than two years.
Not to be daunted, the Angiolinos and their organization used the time to seek further donations. “The pandemic pushed us back considerably, but with some time to raise more funds, we were able to persevere to build an even bigger playground,” Angiolino told the Post.
Joey’s Little Angels partnered with Where Angels Play, a nonprofit organization that specializes in building playgrounds throughout the tri-state area. James and Nicole met with Where Angels Play founder Bill Lavin and his daughter, executive director MaryKate Lavin, and agreed on a plan to build a playground in Hamilton.
They also met with Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin, who helped them choose the site for the playground. “My wife grew up in that area,” Angiolino said. “It felt right, like a good place to build Joey’s Place.”
Angiolino said that the playground project would never have turned out as well as it did without the hard volunteer work of Massimo Zomparelli and his team from of Ripi Concrete, who laid the foundation of the playground and every brick.
In addition to the playground, the site features a walkway of brick pavers leading from the street. Many of the bricks are inscribed with dedications from donors who purchased bricks to help raise the funds necessary to build the park. Some bricks are still available for inscription; for more info, email joeyslittleangels@yahoo.com.
James Angiolino is dean of students at Notre Dame High School in Lawrence, where he also coaches soccer and softball. He was a teacher in the Hamilton Township School District for 15 years, teaching and coaching at both Reynolds and Steinert.
Nicole Angiolino is also a teacher, working at Sayen Elementary School, where she teaches basic skills to students in grades K–5.
Also a big part of the organization and the effort to build Joey’s Place are James and Nicole’s other children: Nicholas, a freshman at Notre Dame High School and Joey’s elder brother; and twins Olivia and Matthew, Joey’s younger siblings.
“After Joey passed away, Nicholas — he was 2 and a half — Nicholas was the driving force of getting us out of bed every day. He gave us purpose at that point. He’ll never know how important he was to get us through that dark time,” James said.
“After Joey, we were blessed with twins Olivia and Matthew, who just truly are compassionate kids. They’re always looking to help any way they can, whether it’s packing toys or giving away Joey’s T-shirts. They’re always looking to be a help. Having compassionate and empathetic kids is truly a gift. Nicole and I are lucky to have three great kids."