Waterford — Maybe Andy Williams is right. Maybe it is the most wonderful time of the year. Except that there’s no manual detailing the grieving process, particularly in a season wrapped in sentiments and memories.

Which is why Waterford Youth Services earns a giant salute today, not merely for its holiday gift-giving program — nearly 4,000 donated presents are making their way throughout town — but for one idea in particular.

Turns out that Dylan Konakowitz, a popular young man from town who died in his sleep three months ago, has accomplished more in death than many have in life.

Konakowitz played basketball and baseball in Waterford. His framed jersey hangs now at Filomena’s, where he was a beloved member of the staff. And now his name is affixed to hundreds of “Lancer Nation” T-shirts, worn by members of the high school’s clever student section at basketball games and other youngins throughout town.

“Every year, we have a legacy gift for somebody in the community that has passed on that we recognize as having left their mark,” youth services director (and Waterford native) Dani Gorman was saying the other day from her office piled with yet-to-be-distributed gifts.

“It started with Jason Gigliotti (who died at 34 in 2008). His mom and dad came to us and said ‘we have a check for you what can you do with it?’ We read Jason’s obituary and learned he was passionate about the Red Sox and fishing. So we bought gifts for people that were themed to his passions.

“This year, when Dylan passed away, he certainly did leave his mark. One of the requests we get a lot on our wish lists are Lancer Nation T-shirts. We thought it would be cool to get a Lancer Nation T-shirt and tag it with his initials and his number (11). There’s about 100 kids who are getting the ‘DK’ Lancer Nation T-shirts. But because we respect the confidentiality of the children in the program so much, we didn’t want them to be identified by that T-shirt. So we had 100 more made and gave them out everywhere.”

Then Dani Gorman paused and said, “It’s very powerful to see that your child’s legacy is going to touch the life of another child in need.”

And so “Ski,” a nickname given to Konakowitz in homage to his lengthy Polish surname, lives on through royal blue T-shirts … and every barb aimed at opponents from Lancer Nation this season.

The legacy gift is but part of Gorman’s program that’s helping 162 families from town in need. It’s not always the season to be jolly, even in Waterford, home to financial stability. Or so the stereotype goes.

“Life is expensive,” Gorman said. “Lots of families move to Waterford because of a great school system and they’re working really hard to live here. So families don’t have as much money left at the end of the day. … Sometimes, it’s hard even when you’re working to make ends meet. Christmas can wipe you out. That’s what makes this special. I’ve said this since the day I got here. Waterford really values helping their neighbors in need.”

The holiday giving program extends beyond the youth, despite the umbrella of youth services. The elderly, disabled, young adults and families are all eligible to fill out a form. A screening process and subsequent conversation determines the level of need.

“Wish lists are given to donors,” Gorman said. “A donor adopts them. Everything that’s given is given 100 percent by donors. It’s a lot of things. Food, heating oil, gifts, whatever they need.”

Now you know why Waterford is such a desirable place to live.

“Firemen roam neighborhoods with Santa on the truck collecting gifts,” Gorman said. “People do food or gift drives in their homes just because. Businesses and civic organizations. Every facet of this community has touched the program. Teachers will go without getting presents from their students. Instead they ask to give to this program, which is really, really special.

“We inventory everything because we want to make sure every child has the same number of gifts. We’ve often said what we give through the program is more than we’d give our own children.”

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.