Published: 7/29/2018 11:31:10 PM
As it has for many past years, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department has made a major contribution to the Recorder’s annual Warm the Children campaign.
Last week, Sheriff Christopher Donelan donated $20,000 to the charity on behalf of his staff. Publisher Michael Rifanburg accepted the donation this past week at a brief ceremony at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction in Greenfield, where most of the Sheriff’s Department staff work.
The Warm the Children drive is supported by partners Wilson’s Department Store and Community Action, and funded through community donations. Children are selected by Community Action, a nonprofit that helps support lower-income families. Wilson’s provides clothing racks and purchases the clothing with the donations, and The Recorder, which created the charity locally more than two decades ago, spearheads the fundraising efforts. Together, they operate a store over three days in the fall. All the money goes to buying the clothes. The sponsoring organizations absorb the overhead.
The main fundraising drive begins in September with the clothes from last year’s funds given out well ahead of the winter season. A thousand children get about $80 to $100 worth of clothing each, including items like a winter coat, a fleece sweatshirt, underwear, socks and thermal underwear.
The fundraising target endpoint is Dec. 31, although the Recorder accepts donations all year.
Recorder Editor George Forcier offers thanks to the community for its continued support of the charity year after year.
“We need to publicly express our gratitude to everyone, like the sheriff’s staff, who helped or donated so far. The Recorder is just a conduit for your generosity.”
Rifanburg said, “As a community newspaper, we try to give back. Our newspaper is heavily supported by the community both in terms of our subscribers and readers and the business community and advertising. It’s only fair for us to give back to the community, and this is just one of the ways we can do that.”
How to donate To donate to Warm the Children, send a check to: Warm the Children, c/o The Recorder, P.O. Box 1367, Greenfield, MA 01302. New clothing may also be dropped at The Greenfield Recorder, at 14 Hope St., any time.