Newtown’s Helping Hands—

Community Service Is A WIN-Win Situation For This Local Group

By John Voket

It is easy for Women Involved in Newtown (WIN) co-president Cyndy DaSilva to tell if she is a little late inviting local businesses and supporters to participate in the orbanization’s annual Thanksgiving Adopt-a-Family Food Drive.

“I start getting checks in the mail and phone calls checking on our donated food drop-off dates, so I know I’d better start getting those letters out,” she told The Bee earlier this week.  “We’ve got a well-established network of donors that include businesses, individuals, and other local church, school, and service groups. In all we probably involve around 150 partners.”

It is a situation most nonprofit agencies would love to have.

Every year, the WIN volunteers begin organizing their Thanksgiving food drive in mid-September. The activity usually serves as the kickoff to the group’s annual membership season.

“This year we’ve got about 20 dedicated members,” Ms DaSilva said. “So we begin meeting in September and get right to work with Newtown Social Services matching families, seniors, and other individuals [anonymously] to donors who will then deliver to us the food and other provisions we’ve requested.”

Once all the donated nonperishable food, toiletries, and paper goods are sorted, volunteers make the rounds delivering the special packages, or recipients come to them pick up the Friday before Thanksgiving.

“There’s nothing like it,” Ms DaSilva said of the experience. “We try to be low key about it because it’s hard for most people to be in this situation. And once in awhile, one will come up and throw their arms around you and just say, ‘thanks.’ That’s a really good feeling.”

She said even though some of the seniors on their delivery route are known from visits year after year, they still are surprised when the volunteers come through the door with their Thanksgiving basket.

“Some of them practically burst into tears when they start going through the items,” she said. “You just know they’re going to have a happier holiday thanks to someone’s donation of an extra bag or two of groceries.”

Besides the food, regular monetary donors help the WIN volunteers round out some of the baskets with specialty foods that are required for those with dietary restrictions.

“We’ve got about $1,100 already, but we put every dollar to good use,” Ms DaSilva said.

“Each year we prepare by sending letters out to families asking for information on the head of household, the kids’ ages, and about any pets,” she said. “We like to include something for the pets, too. And it’s not just dogs and cats, we’ve had donations for guinea pigs and parakeets, too.”

Typically, these baskets are not just limited to the Thanksgiving meal. Ms DaSilva explained that the group tries to provide some extras that may help families get through until they receive another basket donated by another community group before Christmastime.

“We might supply a case of diapers or some extra boxes of cereal or crackers…whatever we can manage to help them get through until Christmas,” she said.

Then, on the Friday before Thanksgiving, the group, along with other family members and friends, arrive at the Newtown Methodist Church basement bright and early to begin sorting the baskets. By around 4 pm, the deliveries begin to go out, while other recipients are allowed to pick up items between  5 and 8 pm.

Ms DaSilva is especially appreciative of all the Newtown schools and students who participate in the food collections. “The school groups have a lot of fun collecting all the food items, and they also help with sorting and deliveries.

And while Ms DaSilva concentrates on the Thanksgiving project, her co-president, Mandy Monaco spends most of the year collecting toys and decorative baskets for the group’s other major service project. Every year since 1999, the WIN members collect stuffed animals and small toys to distribute at Eastertime.

While the Thanksgiving drive is exclusively for Newtown residents, the popularity of the Easter basket program has grown to accommodate sick and needy children in Brookfield, Danbury, and Bridgeport. In the five short years the initiative has been in existence, requests have grown from 40 the first year to more than 400 so far for the upcoming Easter season.

“We work with Healing Hearts Hospital, Newtown and Brookfield Social Services, the Regional Hospice, the AIDS Interfaith Ministry, the Bridgeport Rescue Mission, any family who needs something for the kids at Easter and we are there for them,” Ms Monaco said.

The program is so popular, she has had offers of toys from women as far away as Guilford. Anyone interested in donating a stuffed animal for the cause can drop it at the Little Green Barn in Sandy Hook Center, she said.

The WIN group traces its roots to the Jaycee Wives club circa 1950. As membership roles waned and grew, the group continued its tradition of community service and social opportunities for the women members and their families. Besides the food and Easter basket drives, the group hosts an annual hayride and bonfire at the Paproski farm, where members launch their Thanksgiving activities. WIN also contributes a portion of its proceeds to the Newtown Scholarship Association each year, she said.

Today, annual dues are only $25. And the group’s meeting structure is described as “laid back,” by Ms DaSilva.

“We’ve got a wonderful group of women who are interested in doing things for others in their community,” she said. Members take turns each month hosting meetings at their respective homes and they have several dinners and a group party every year.

“We’re not real sticklers about everybody making every meeting. If we know we can depend on a member for a certain job, we know we can call on them when they are needed and they come right out and pitch in,” she said. “We’re an easy group to be a member of.”