As published in the Southington Citizen, December 14, 2012
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| Ringing the Bells for the Salvation Army Appeal for Southington Community Services and the local hungry they serve were Sen. Joe Markley (left), and Rep. Rob Sampson (right). Others.shown are John Myers, YNCA Director, Kanwaljit Singh and Parminer Kaur of the Sikh Temple in Southington and Mary Beth Hanisko of EWalmart. |
Texting,
e-Mail, Facebook and cell phones were screaming the news Tuesday morning! “Southington Rocks”, said an email from John
Myers, Director of the Southington-Cheshire YMCA. “Wow – Southington is Amazing!”, said another email from Karen McCarthy of the
Y Community Development unit.
After a one-hour
Salvation Army bell ringing by Sen. Joe Markley and Rep. Rob Sampson at
Southington’s Walmart on Monday, Salvation Army Treasurer, Kaye Davis, (who is
also Director of United Way of Southington), called with the astonishing news
that the people of Southington had brought gifts to the Red Kettle totaling $24,716 to help Southington Community
Services feed
the town’s local hungry.
the town’s local hungry.
Walmart’s Community Liaison person, Mary Beth Hanisko, joined the bell
ringers for the entire hour. Hanisko was thrilled at the results saying that
she and store manager, Jay McClure, were excited about the prospect of being
the number one Walmart store in Connecticut, again this year, and hopefully having
a shot at being number one in the country in helping to feed the hungry.
Now in its
second year, the one-hour bell ringing drive is a collaborative effort of the
Salvation Army, Director of Southington Community Services, Janet Mellon, Walmart
and the state legislative republicans represented in Southington by Markley and
Sampson, ringing the bells. Walmart
matches the dollars brought in by all donations so that Southington’s Food
Pantry will receive the amazing total of $49.432.
Stunned and
filled with joy by the good news, Mellon said: “It’s thrilling beyond words.
People in Southington do care about people.” “It’s what this town is about”,
Davis said. Sampson said that after last
year’s record amount of $25.000, highest in the state for a Walmart Store, doubling that amount this year
is absolutely astounding.”
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| Debbie Denorfio and Mark Fazzolari ringing bells at the red kettle at the north entrance of Walmart. |
“There is a
distinct spirit of great generosity in Southington. We see the town come
through when the chips are down.”, Markley noted. “There is an exceptional town quality of
giving the help neighbors.”, Markley said.
Mellon said
that many of those who come to Southington Community Services are deeply
anxious about these times. “Already not making ends meet, they hear the news of
what is happening in our country, millions out of a job, the financial crisis, deficits,
and rising taxes; how are we going to get through this, the ask?”, Mellon said.
“Just the food we purchase from Food Share runs around $70,000 per year. And
that’s without the many other services provided, clothing, rent and utilities
assistance, referrals to state agencies, counseling, toys for children who
would go without.” Mellon said.
These many needs shed some light on the
motivation of the corps of volunteers at Southington Community Services who continue
to be so busy anytime you go there, working on so many tasks to fulfill so many
needs. These folks, like those who contributed to the drive this week, are
committed to making life just a bit easier for someone tomorrow.
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