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ANSONIA — For the past 16 years, the James H. Wilkins Lodge #9 and Sheba Chapter #1 have been sending Valley students back to class with the supplies they need to start the school year off right.
And this year is no different.
The annual “Fill-a-Bag” school supply drive is currently underway, and organizers are appealing to the public to help.
“We are warming up our school supplies drive once again,” said Lodge member Gregory Gatison. “We strive to help the students in the most need from each school.”
The group is a masonic lodge, and was the Freemasons’ 2017 – 18 Lodge of the Year for all they do in the community.
Gatison said he and his fellow members reach out in May to the six elementary and middle schools in both Ansonia and Derby to collect a list of what students need. Students that benefit from the annual drive hail from Mead, Prendergast and Ansonia Middle schools and Bradley, Irving and Derby Middle schools.
Those wish lists have since been sent in, according to Gatison and everything from pens, dry erase markers, pocket folders, one-subject notebooks “are in high demand,” along with pencils, crayons, highlighters, three-ring binders, glue sticks and paper.
Anyone interested in making a donation to this year’s drive, can drop supplies off at the Lodge, located at 150 Tremont St., Ansonia or mail monetary donations to James H. Wilkins Lodge, P.O. Box 36, Ansonia, CT, 06401. Gatison is usually at the lodge on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sunday. He can also be reached at 203 – 685-0937 for more information.
Gatison said he hopes to help about 300 students this year. The drive receives annual support from various local organizations, like the Valley United Way, Gatison noted, and the lodge and Sheba members help solicit donations from friends, family members, their local churches and more.
“Helping our youth has been a tradition for our fraternities and a habit for more than 125 years,” Gatison said. “Our school supplies drive has been strong since 2005. Many students are from low income households and could use a helping hand.”
Gatison recalled back to his youth when he was on the receiving end of a kind gesture, when the men in his community gave students coins to encourage kids to do well in school and in life.
“We do things out of love because it’s the right, and needed, thing to do,” Gatison said.
Gatison said this year’s drive will be dedicated on behalf of late lodge member and lodge Secretary James Hodge.
Derby’s Superintendent of Schools Matthew Conway is always grateful to both the Wilkins Lodge and Sheba Chapter for lending students a helping hand.
“Each year, this drive provides much needed supplies to some of our neediest children,” Conway said. “It helps reassure every child has adequate school supplies at home to work with. This was especially critical last year as many children learned from home in addition to COVID protocols limiting kids from sharing supplies.”
Last year, Conway said the drive supplied 125 students from Bradley, Irving and Derby Middle schools with “70 boxes of crayons, 200 dry erase markers, 78 composition notebooks, 380 pocket folders, 504 pencils, 240 pens, 53 scissors, 31 boxes of colored pencils, 162 glue sticks.”
“This is truly an amazing effort on their part to coordinate this every year for our kids,” Conway added.
Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti echoed similar sentiments.
“The James Wilkins Lodge and Sheba Chapter have always been helpful to our youth in Ansonia.” Cassetti said. “The generosity of this organization is greatly appreciated. These are challenging times for children and their families, and the supplies for children will help lessen the burden.”
