Hurricane Katrina Victim Relief Drive

Stoughton
Community Wide
Hurricane Katrina Victim Relief Drive

Stoughton Journal
Letter to the editor:
I would just like to say how truly proud I am to be living in this town with such great people. Though some may think different, I envy those who do what they do behind the scenes and without all of the fanfare. I am humbled by the many volunteers whose names I may not know but faces I will never forget.

People like Chris Ciampa, Captain "Cap" Francis, Bob Devine, Billy Tracey, Brian Holmes, Tony Bickerton, Lino Azul, Ms. Mcnamara and several other members of the Stoughton Police Dept. who I know better by face than by name. I use their given names and not their titles because, today, we were all our father's sons and our mother's daughters helping others who need our help. The Auxillary Police who are always there to give a hand and don't always get the acknowledgement from the town that they deserve. Thank you!

What seemed like our entire Stoughton Fire Department, including Chief Jardin, who helped to sort, fill boxes, load boxes, etc. Thank you!

Townspeople like Rick Kaplan who, when something is needed, he just goes out and buys it without question as well as spending his time helping others along with his family and friends. Lester Davis, President of the Stoughton Lions Club, an organization known for giving, giving and giving. Paul Flanagan who came down to spend an hour and spent half the day and Heidi McVane from the Youth Commission. Mrs. Cap and son and daughter of Cap who spent the entire day doing and doing and doing. Thank you!

School people like Brett Dickens, Pat Small, Claire McCarthy, Tom Colburn, Alyssa Dancey and the notorious but retired David Fisher and, again, the many who worked in the background to make this event the great success that it turned out to be. Thank you!

Then there's our town's kids, Paul Chamberlain Jr. John Walsh Jr, Tom Walsh, members of the Student Council and all of our Parents Kids who really worked their butts off to help others. Thank you!

Our fabulous "Girls of Town Hall" Reggie K, Denise, Mrs Foley, Donna L and I'm sure I'm missing one or many since there were really so many faces. Chris Quinn of Council on Aging who did a lot of work in the background. Thank you!

Our business community, including; Big Y Supermarket, Mad Al's Doghouse, Honey Dew, Dunkin Donuts, BJ's Wholesale, Romanow Container Co, Alcoa Fastening Systems, Malcolm and Parsons Insurance, etc. for donating tons of items including; burgers, dogs, cookies, soda, water, coffee, pastries, lunch boxes, money, etc. Other donations of boxes, tape, people and more boxes. A very special thank you to Joe and Kathy Hannon, owners of the Stoughton Motel who donated enough funds to cover all of the expenses of this 1300 mile trip. Thank you!

Mr. Vincent Troani, friend of Cap, for donating his 53' truck and his time to drive these donations down to Jackson Mississippi. Without this major donation who knows what we would have done? Thank you!

Last but by far not least is the townspeople who made all of the donations! Ya know, I'm old enough to remember the old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland movies, which seemed so corny back then, that two kids could pull together an entire town to put on a backyard musical or a town parade. Well, it isn't so corny after all because a couple of very thoughtful people produced, directed and orchestrated this townwide charity drive that went like clockwork and, in the end, we did something very good for some very deserving people! Thank you!

If you were to look up the word "Town" in the dictionary you would find the following definition:

Large area of buildings: a densely populated area with many buildings, larger than a village and smaller than a city.

Unit of local government: in parts of the United States and Canada, a unit of local government that is smaller than a county or city.

Today, the Town of Stoughton has added a totally new definition to what a town really represents:

An area that is inhabited by people who care about each other in their town and those in the surrounding communities.

A group of people who, when the need arises, work together to provide aid for anyone in need, whether from the town or anywhere in the world.

The "Town of Stoughton" came together to provide whatever help we could for people whom we've never met and will probably never meet just because they needed our help. They did this without question, without request of payback and without fanfare.

This "Town" can and should be very proud of what they have accomplished and I can only hope that others who see what this "Town" had done will choose to replicate the process because there is nothing like the warm feeling one gets in their heart when they know that they've helped others!

I'm very proud to be a Stoughtonite and you should be too!
The Town of Stoughton Makes A Difference!

THANK YOU!

Hurricane Katrina Relief Drive at Big Y Supermarket

HELPING THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA

WE RAISED A TOTAL OF
$1638.00