Everyone says the holiday season is busy and they are correct in saying so. We could say the same thing at Boys Town for the entire fall as we had some of the busiest and most exciting months we have had in many years.
We started in October with our annual volunteering at the Amica Newport Marathon and Pell Bridge Run. A special shoutout to the local schools (Portsmouth High School) and individuals that helped at each event. Volunteers had to arrive as early as 5:30 a.m. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Later in October we welcomed employees from the PARE Corporation for a cookout on the Bazarsky Portsmouth Campus. PARE as an organization has been so invested in what we do at Boys Town by annually donating backpacks for nearly 75 students at the start of school, and providing holiday gifts for many of our LIFT program kids in the Pawtucket area. Ken DaCosta, who just retired from the Boys Town Board, helped to initially spearhead these efforts and we cannot thank him and everyone at PARE enough for their continued support.
October concluded with a Halloween trip to Six Flags. This was special because the trip was initiated by one of our Family Home kids who just joined us in September. She advocated for the trip and made such a good presentation that we felt compelled to make it happen!
A new event was introduced to Boys Town in early November which involves bringing area business leaders on campus to talk about their personal background, lessons learned, their current job and how they got there. Kathy Wyllie, who is a partner at Revens, Revens, St. Pierre and Wyllie, along with Melvin Veasley, who is President of MVP Marketing Results, did a great job and opened the eyes of our Family Home kids about what is possible if they continue to work hard.
And then we hit the holiday season with the annual Buy a Bird campaign in which we provided 100 dinner baskets as part of our Thanksgiving Food Drive. And we officially kicked off the holiday season with the annual holiday tree lighting and block party. This year the Bazarsky campus homes are outlined with color lights as requested by the kids. To their credit last year, they picked white lights and this year they wanted a change to see which they liked better.
Yes, it was an eventful and wonderful fall, enjoyed by everyone at Boys Town. Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful holiday season.
Glenn Hofmann, Development Director