When it comes to children in need, the Valley never lets them down!
For a 6th year in a row, the Annual Book Bag & School Supply drive has been a great success. Over 110 book bags and an abundance of back to school supplies were collected this year.
This drive, originally started by the owners of Luther’s Garage, which is now closed, continues on an annual basis through J Cuts located at 505 Howe Ave. in Shelton.
J Cuts was the main collection location for supplies such as book bags, book covers, rulers, pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, binders, glue, crayons, calculators, pencil sharpeners, paper and folders.
“The outpouring kindness of the community always warms my heart,” said Jennifer Sneider, owner of J Cuts. “So many people stop by to drop off donations. Many of my customers do not hesitate to hand me five or ten dollars so I can pick up what we are falling short on. It is amazing how it all balances out for children in need!”
Minuteman Press located at 427B Howard Ave. in Shelton also served as a collection location again this year.
For the second year in a row, Dave Haddad, of the Shelton Lion’s Club, led his organization on a weekly collection during the concerts on the Huntington Green. As a result, they were able to contribute greatly to the drive.
This year, as the collection came closer to an end, coordinators realized there might be a shortage of book bags. At the last minute, Peter Cantone, CEO of Spray Foam Nation, headquartered in West Haven, came through by donating fifty book bags.
“Although we are a national company, we believe it is important to give on a local basis, especially when it concerns children in great need,” said Cantone, “I don’t think we can ever do enough to help take care of the World’s children.”
Spray Foam Nation chose the West Haven Youth & Family Services program to share a portion of the donations with. Bob Morton, Director of this program, stopped by to pick up book bags and school supplies on Aug. 27th.
“The majority of our families are single parents, with low to moderate income,” according to Morton. “They have one or more children who have a clinical diagnosis (autism, ADHD, OCD, etc.) Any financial assistance that these families receive is extremely helpful. To be able to get school supplies might mean the difference between putting food on the table, paying a bill or putting gas in the car to get their children to doctor or therapy appointments.”
Additional children receiving donations this year are serviced by T.E.A.M., Inc. of Derby and the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley in Shelton. On Tuesday, August 28th, representatives from these organizations picked up donations during the pick up and final donation drop off.
J Cuts will be the main collection location beginning January 1, 2013 for the 7th Annual Monkey Love Valentine Drive. Although this community drive officially kicks off on January 1st, donations will be accepted at any time. Donations must be new, stuffed monkeys.
This drive benefits the same groups of children in need as the Back to School Book Bag & School Supply Drive. The more stuffed monkeys collected, the more the donations will be spread to additional agencies for children.
Any group, business or organization is welcome to join in the Annual Monkey Love Valentine Drive.
Call Jennifer Sneider at 203 – 924-4107 with questions or for more information.
