GREENFIELD — As winter approaches, the Warm the Children fundraising drive is ramping up to provide coats and clothing to children in need in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.
Warm the Children was started locally by the Greenfield Recorder in 1993 and the annual winter donation drive, which runs through the end of December, last year provided new coats and clothes to about 800 children, raising $64,702 to cover expenses.
“It’s a great program,” commented Recorder Business Manager Patti Wasilewski, who coordinates the donation drive in partnership with Community Action Pioneer Valley. “All that money goes to kids that need it, and I am happy to be a part of it.”
All newspaper advertisements, and many fundraising costs, are donated by the Recorder and donations to Warm the Children, which are tax-deductible, are placed in a special account overseen by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Warm the Children recipients are suggested by various social service agencies and community organizations.
The Recorder has a partnership with Target to provide gift cards to beneficiaries. The Recorder previously worked with Wilson’s Department Store to order the clothes until it closed in January 2020.
These gift cards are provided to Community Action for distribution, and can be used in store or online to buy clothing for each qualifying child, 12 years old or younger.
The success of Warm the Children is also due in large part to community volunteers who hold their own fundraisers while civic groups and businesses also contribute by making donations and by organizing fundraising efforts.
Traditionally, the Recorder shares stories of donors and recipients during the fundraising campaign with the goal of inspiring others to donate.
One of the longest running donors has been the Greenfield Tae Kwon Do Center, which holds a yearly “Break-athon,” in which students break boards to raise money. The center started hosting the event for Warm the Children in 2002, and last year eclipsed the $100,000 mark in donations over those 19 years.
“It feels really nice that we can help people,” Zack Constantine, a 12-year-old martial artist who participated in the 2021 event, said last year. “The entire town comes together to help people in need.”
Earlier this year, the Recorder reported on a group of seniors at the Northfield Senior Center who have been knitting hats to donate to Warm the Children.
“In my mind, if you have a gift, it’s your responsibility to use that to help others,” said Betty Whitcomb, who has helped bring together knitters in the community for the project. “It’s a project to give back. We’ve got the skills, we may as well use them.”
The Recorder is seeking more stories about those who have a tradition of giving to Warm the Children and is also interested in letting readers know about fundraisers dedicated to the drive.
Email contact information to Managing Editor Shelby Brock at sbrock@recorder.com and a reporter will be assigned to include you in stories the newspaper does during the Warm the Children fundraising campaign.
Anyone who would like to send tax-deductible donations may address them to the Greenfield Recorder: Warm the Children at P.O. Box 1367, 14 Hope St., Greenfield MA, 01301.