Ruggieri Brothers and J+J Flooring Bring Helping Hands to Hasbro Children’s Hospital
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Starnet members and vendor collaborate to put on incredible parties and events all year round. However, every holiday season, Starnet members give a world-class effort for the helping hands event. The companies we wanted to highlight today are Ruggieri Brothers of Cranston, R.I., and preferred vendor partner J+J Flooring for partnering for success once again for a truly incredible cause.
An Evening at Gillette Stadium, A Gift for Hasbro Children’s Hospital
On Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026, Ruggieri Brothers and J+J Flooring will host the 3rd Annual Helping Hands Tree Decorating Event at Gillette Stadium. The evening brings together architects, interior designers, contractors, and industry partners, with each team decorating a holiday tree and prizes going to the three best designs.
However, what happens after the party is the real story. Ruggieri Brothers will deliver every decorated tree to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, where they will be given to children spending the holidays in the hospital. The response from the local design community has been remarkable: as the event approached, nearly every tree had already been claimed.
The effort is led by David Ruggieri, President of Ruggieri Brothers, and Craig Polleys, Senior Account Manager at J+J Flooring. It’s a fitting project for a company that has been part of its community since 1949. Founded by brothers Ed, Antonio and John Ruggieri, the family-owned business is now run by the third generation and recently earned Gold in the Single Source category of the 2026 Starnet Design Awards for its work at Baldwin Elementary School.
Helping Hands: From One Hospital to a National Tradition
The Rhode Island event is one chapter in a much bigger story. J+J Flooring launched Helping Hands with a single children’s hospital in Atlanta. Each November and December, designers and flooring professionals team up to decorate themed, kid-friendly trees, often filled with toys and games. The trees are then donated to children’s hospitals and community organizations, where young patients and their families browse a pop-up holiday forest and pick a favorite to take back to their rooms.
The growth has been striking. By 2023, the program had reached 13 hospitals and organizations in eight states. In 2024, participants decorated and delivered more than 1,150 trees. The 2025 campaign reached 22 communities, from Boston and Buffalo to Phoenix, Houston and Sacramento. J+J Director of Marketing Kim Bobo has described it as “a national tradition,” and credits the passion and generosity of the program’s design partners for keeping it growing.
Starnet Members Bring Their Communities Together All Year Long
Across the Starnet network, members and preferred vendor partners host events like this throughout the year, and Ruggieri isn’t the only member involved in Helping Hands: Bonitz has supported the J+J Helping Hands event in Charlotte, with trees donated to Levine Children’s Hospital.
- For members, these events build trust with the architects, designers, general contractors and facility managers they serve. Relationships formed outside a project make the next project smoother.
- For vendor partners, they’re a chance to stand side by side with their contractor partners in front of the customers who specify and buy their products.
- For the A&D community, they offer connection, creativity and, often, continuing education, in a setting where nobody is selling anything.
- For the community, they turn industry relationships into something meaningful and impactful.
In closing, thank you to David Ruggieri and the Ruggieri Brothers team, Craig Polleys and J+J Flooring Group, and every architect, designer and partner who picked up a tree this year. The kids at Hasbro Children’s Hospital are lucky to have you.