“Misfit Island” Christmas house creators donate over $14k to charity

East Northport resident Andrew Reid, 20, presented a check for $14,404.84 to Ronald McDonald House New York Metro on Thursday, Jan 8, raised from donors who visited his “Misfit Island” holiday lights display over the December holiday season.

Each year, Reid transforms his family’s East Northport home into a lighted winter wonderland with more than 500 restored holiday decorations.

“I’m blown away, I’m still blown away,” said Reid, who says he surpassed his goal of installing more than 300,000 lights on his family’s home, lawn and driveway. “We had more than 33,000 people come to see the lights this year, and that’s with all the bad weather that forced us to close for several nights.”

The light display is made up of discarded and broken holiday decorations Reid and his siblings find throughout their East Northport neighborhood. Reid stores and fixes the decorations all year long and then begins to install them in August, in time for a December unveiling.

“Andrew’s a great inspiration, not just to young people but to everyone,” said Nick Croce, chair of the Stony Brook Ronald McDonald House Construction Committee. “He is really dedicated and thoughtful in how he approaches giving back to the community.”

Reid’s fundraising efforts will be used toward the future Ronald McDonald House at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, which is expected to begin construction this year. The house, which will be the only Ronald McDonald House in Suffolk County, will feature 30 bedrooms that include ensuite bathrooms, a communal dining room, a movie theater and fitness room, administrative offices and a great room designed with children in mind. It will join two family rooms located at Stony Brook, in the Children’s Hospital (opened in 2013) and the Hospital NICU (opened in 2022).