Two donation drives on Saturday collected items for two different aspects of the winter season — shelter and clothing for people who are homeless, and toys for holiday gifts.
Community service is being especially emphasized this December at The Bement School in Deerfield, with a campaign called “Bement Gives Back.”
On Saturday, a handful of students, parents and school staff members collected winter equipment for homeless people — including tents, sleeping bags, winter jackets, socks and gloves.
“(The students) are learning about community service and giving back and supporting people with greater needs,” said Brian Pearson, a member of the school’s board of trustees.
Bement was connected with Friends of Hampshire County Homeless Individuals Inc., which provides resources for homeless people in the area. The organization gave Bement a list of items it will need for the winter, Pearson said.
The school’s volunteers were stationed outside the school from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, where people could drop off winter items to donate. Pearson estimated that about 20 people had come to make donations by noon. Bement had also coordinated with camping equipment company Crua Outdoors to donate new tents and sleeping bags.
The “Bement Gives Back” campaign was established by the new Head of School Michael Schloat, Pearson said. Students have volunteered throughout December with other local charities. He said students will also be volunteering later this month at the Stone Soup Cafe, which provides pay-what-you-can community meals in Greenfield.
A yearly toy drive in Bernardston was not slowed down by the pandemic, organizers said Saturday morning.
The toy drive has been run by the Bernardston Fire and Police Departments for at least 10 years, said Police Chief James Palmeri. It was once a benefit for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program, but now distribution of the toys is handled by local social service agencies and limited to the Franklin County area.
“We want to keep it local and help local kids,” said Bernardston Police Sgt. Jon Richardson.
The drive usually accepts new and secondhand toys, but this year it was requested that all donations be new toys, due to public health concerns.
Volunteers waited outside the Bernardston Fire Station, where people would drive through to drop off donations.
Last year, the drive collected enough toys to fill three police cruisers and a pickup truck, Palmeri said.
“This year we used a trailer because we’ve had so much before that we didn’t have room,” he said. “This is probably the biggest (collection) so far. We always get quite a bit, but this seems like quite a bit for us.”
The drive also collects cash donations, which typically come in at around $600. That too was a bit higher this year, Palmeri said.
Richardson said the toys are donated to local social service agencies, which will distribute them within their own programs.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.