“Baby, it’s cold outside.” And getting colder. Which means kids need coats to keep warm. Pat Salvi, a Great Barrington resident who recently retired from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, is the point person for “Warm the Children,” a project of the Kiwanis Club of Sheffield. As its name suggests, “Warm the Children,” provides new winter clothing for children of needy families. The local Kiwanis chapter is one of thirty across the country that engages in this project.
The “Warm the Children” campaign was initiated in 1988 by the Torrington, Conn., Kiwanis chapter. Here in the southern Berkshires the nonprofit Kiwanis pairs up with a local newspaper on this program. There are several other Kiwanis groups in New England that participate as well.
The Kiwanis chapter begins its campaign for new funds at the end of October, and continues through until early December. Salvi reports that about 90 percent of previous donors to the “Warm the Children” campaign have contributed this year. About 10 percent of previous donors have increased their donation from last year.
The “Warm the Children” campaign certainly fulfills the mission of Kiwanis, which is to improve the world one child and one community at a time. Kiwanis works with the local Kmart on this project.
Local schools, Head Start, and the WIC program provide most of the names of children in need to Kiwanis. “We accept names from other sources, too,” says Salvi. “We may get a referral from a pastor who knows there’s a new family in town. Or of a family that had a severe loss due to a fire.”
This year the Sheffield Kiwanis has 40 percent more eligible children than last year. In line with the increased need for coats, Salvi notes that more students are eligible for reduced student lunches. If you are interested in the “Warm the Children” program but do not have children’s clothing to donate, the Kiwanis club also accepts monetary contributions. 100% of all the money goes to purchase new clothing for children. The Kiwanis club “absorbs” the administrative cost for the program.
For many years now, Aberdale’s in Housatonic kept a cash jug at their register so customers could drop change in it to support the Warm the Children program. In May this year, the jug was stolen. It is estimated that at that time about $1,500 had been collected. Word got out in the community of the theft and within a few days contributors more than made up for what had been stolen. A lovely ending to a sorry story.
The first Kiwanis chapter was founded 100 years ago, and the local one goes back 60 years. In addition to the “Warm the Children” campaign, Kiwanis oversees a used clothing drive in autumn. The coats collected then have already been distributed. Kiwanis actively supports the community with other programs, such as scholarships, camps, day trips, and scouting activities. Many people and organizations in the Berkshires provide services that make a real difference in people’s lives. The Sheffield Kiwanis is an excellent example.
