Editor’s note: This is another installment of weekly stories about the Greenfield Recorder’s annual Warm the Children charity. Learn about those who benefit and those who make it happen.
GREENFIELD — Arriving to the setup for the annual Warm the Children clothing drive, Greenfield High School’s Student Council immediately was put to work pulling clothes out of boxes, sorting them and placing them onto hangers in the Dole Building at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.
The task wasn’t too small for Willow Scappace, the Student Council’s vice president — a ninth-grader, who is the youngest in that position in recent history.
“I used to get Warm the Children when I was a little kid, and so I wanted to give back to the community,” Willow said.
Willow still remembers she and her brother coming home to new winter clothing from the annual clothing drive that the Greenfield Recorder runs in partnership with Wilson’s Department Store and Community Action.
“We would get these nice warm clothes. We would wear them until next year,” Willow said. “It helped my parents, who needed the money for food and heat.”
With the help of a few other members of the council, alongside their adviser, Angela Mass, the students chipped in when they could, in the days before the Warm the Children drive would kick off.
“I did it last year and I remembered it, and I thought it was fun, and it was nice to help out the community, and I just wanted to come again,” 11th-grader Anthony Bohannon said.
Mass said the school got involved when she saw on her Facebook feed a friend from high school who was asking for volunteers for Warm the Children. Now the Student Council vice president is able to help volunteer for the drive that helped her when she was a child.
“They were always really nice and offering things that they would give us for the cold months,” Willow said. “I would gladly help out with this any year.”
For Warm the Children, recipients are selected by Community Action, a nonprofit that helps support lower-income families. Wilson’s provides clothing racks and purchases the clothing with the donations, and The Recorder, which created the charity locally, spearheads the fundraising efforts. Together, they operate a store over three days in the fall, which this year happened in September. Now the Recorder is encouraging the community to raise money again, for next year’s winter clothes.
The main fundraising drive begins in September with the clothes from last year’s funds given out well ahead of the winter season. More than a thousand children get about $80 to $100 worth of clothing each, including items like a winter coat, a fleece sweatshirt, underwear, socks and thermal underwear.
The fundraising campaign target endpoint is Dec. 31, although the Recorder accepts donations all year.
To donate to Warm the Children, send a check to: Warm the Children, c/o The Recorder, P.O. Box 1367, Greenfield, MA 01302.
If you would like to publicize information about fundraisers or share a story, call Joshua Solomon at the Greenfield Recorder at 413-772-0261, ext. 264 or by email: jsolomon@recorder.com