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Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
From left, Laura Whitney, Jason “Oz” Eves, Annea Kimmett and Mary Mathewson pose outside the trolley during Tuesday’s collection of school supplies. Rachel Burt/Watertown Daily Times
Representatives from State Farm, local sports teams, Community Broadcasters and the Community Action Planning Council pose outside the trolley during Tuesday’s collection of school supplies. Provided photo
The State Farm mascot, Lance Hale of 94 Rock and Johnny Spezzano of the Border 106.7 take a photo during Tuesday’s school supply collection event. Provided photo
Tuesday’s collection event filled the trolley more than halfway with donations of backpacks and school supplies for the Community Action Planning Council to distribute. Rachel Burt/Watertown Daily Times
From left, Laura Whitney, Jason “Oz” Eves, Annea Kimmett and Mary Mathewson pose outside the trolley during Tuesday’s collection of school supplies. Rachel Burt/Watertown Daily Times
Representatives from State Farm, local sports teams, Community Broadcasters and the Community Action Planning Council pose outside the trolley during Tuesday’s collection of school supplies. Provided photo
The State Farm mascot, Lance Hale of 94 Rock and Johnny Spezzano of the Border 106.7 take a photo during Tuesday’s school supply collection event. Provided photo
Tuesday’s collection event filled the trolley more than halfway with donations of backpacks and school supplies for the Community Action Planning Council to distribute. Rachel Burt/Watertown Daily Times
WATERTOWN — Despite the drizzly weather Tuesday, community members loaded up the trolley outside the Laura Whitney State Farm office on Coffeen Street with backpacks and school supplies for the Community Action Planning Council to give out to those in need.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., DJs from Community Broadcasters took turns broadcasting live on site during the event before the donations were driven to the CAPC.
Bringing supplies such as crayons, colored pencils, notebooks, glue sticks, pencils and pens, local resident Diane Curtis stopped by the office to help fill the trolley.
“There’s a lot of children and families that can’t afford things nowadays,” she said. “I have 10 grandchildren out of state, so I thought it would be nice to do.”
According to event organizer and State Farm team member Annea Kimmett, about a quarter of the donations that filled the trolley came from the motorcycle group Hades Hounds, which often helps out with community causes.
“There’s a lot of love and labor here,” she said. “It’s not just about the money, it’s about giving back to the community.”
Along with donations of backpacks and supplies, monetary donations were also accepted. Mrs. Kimmett said more than half the trolley had been filled with items by the end of the day. She estimated that with all the bags, supplies and money, around $6,000 was donated to the CAPC.
Mrs. Kimmett noted that last year, a similar fundraiser took place, but the location was moved to the State Farm office this year and will remain there. The hope is for the event to get bigger and better each year.
“In today’s economic tangle that every family is in, you sometimes have to choose between putting gas in your car or buying your daughter the backpack that she wants,” Mrs. Kimmett said. “This is why this is important, the parents won’t have to worry about it. They can worry about fighting with their children about what to wear the first day of school, but this should not be a parent’s worry. I want the children and the parents to know that there are heroes and they’re here in the community.”
Helping to spread the word on social media and over the airwaves, DJ Lance D. Hale of 94 Rock WOTT said that despite the weather, the response on Tuesday was fantastic.
“You definitely see a lot of people that are helping because they understand that the cost of everything has gone up; not just groceries, not just gas, but the cost of school supplies has gone up significantly,” he said. “So any way that we can help — to help out those families and help out those kids — we’re all about it. We love to give back to the community, that’s what it’s all about.”
Donations will continue to be accepted at the office as long as people keep bringing them, said State Farm agent Laura D. Penazek-Whitney. She said that she doesn’t care when donations get there and that they can always be used no matter what time of year.
“If nothing else, this event just brings the awareness of children in the north country that really need our help,” she said. “There are a lot more than people normally realize and we don’t want any child to go without.”
Mary J. Mathewson, director of the CAPC’s Family Center, said the organization wouldn’t be able to help customers in need without partners like State Farm and Community Broadcasters.
She said that needs have increased in recent years at the organization’s food pantry and for school supplies and that the CAPC has held two other supply events at Flower Memorial Library earlier this summer and in Philadelphia Monday night. During the Philadelphia event, a little girl walked in with a smile on her face when she saw all the supplies available, Ms. Mathewson said.
“This is why we do it,” Ms. Mathewson said. “(With) the price of everything, if we could alleviate a little stress by handing out the school supplies, that’s one less thing a parent or guardian has to worry about. It’s important for the families, but I think it’s important for the kids that they’re able to pick out what they want, to be able to have fresh, new stuff to start school with.”
She said it’s a wonderful feeling to live in a community that wants to give back.
“It was a truly wonderful and gifted day,” Mrs. Kimmett said.
“As the employees of CAPC took items off the trolley, I felt myself more and more humbled and my faith renewed in the generosity of others. The look on their faces as they took boxes and book bags and tons of other items using a human chain to empty the trolley, you could see that they were as humbled and as affected by these items as everyone I worked with today.”
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Great job Laura Whitney State Farm.
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