Skaters Raise Funds On The Corner Of Queen

By Kendra Bobowick

Did you buy a can of soda or a T-shirt Saturday? Did you make a donation? Drivers who turned onto Church Hill Road from Queen Street April 18 would have seen two Newtown Middle School students fundraising for a skate park.

Tim Ciavara pulled down a black knit cap despite one of the season’s first warm days, held out his sign, and made his appeal to passersby. Higher temperatures worked to his advantage as passengers rolled down car windows for the nice day, and could not avoid the sound of Tim’s voice, joined by friend Evan Garrett. The young men drew attention to the cold drinks and T-shirts for sale.

In Tim’s grip was his handwritten sign he waved in drivers’ fields of view that read: “Donate to Skate!” Behind him Evan held up a skateboard he had for sale, and kept an eye on a table filled with information, donations jars, and small, medium, and large shirts. Campaign promoter Lori Capozziello said this week in an email that the skaters made out “great” selling Donate to Skate T-shirts for the first time. Although the collection was impromptu, Ms Capozziello counted $602 in donations.

Her hope — after seeing $50,000 budgeted by the Parks and Recreation Department, which was lost in rounds of cuts this year — is renewed. She wrote: “I couldn’t believe it.” The generosity has “changed my opinion forever about Newtown, which will serve me well … until we get the skate park completed.”

Impressed with the generosity that Tim and Evan found, Ms Capozziello added, “Most of the money came from people just driving through town and [making] contributions out of their car windows! This made my day!”

 

Athlete-To-Athlete

Most recently, Ms Capozziello has started an Athlete-To-Athlete fundraiser. From one mouth to another, word is passing to coaches and hopefully will reach as many sports league athletes as possible about a “high-five” $5 fundraiser. Ms Capozziello momentarily turns her appeals to skaters’ peers: she hopes they will give the high five sign, or $5 for efforts to construct a skate park for athletes who, unlike soccer or baseball players, do not have a place to play.

Season by season and sport by sport, she hopes word about her Athlete-To-Athlete program — part of the ongoing Donate to Skate Campaign — reaches as far as it can. She is starting with Lacrosse Coach Bob Marusi, who supports her efforts, and is leaning on another mother for support.

In an email this week Mr Marusi wrote: “It’s very positive to have a program that supports the multi-sport athlete. There should be more of this in our town among the youth sports organizations. Our sports organizations need to support each other and the athletes involved.

“Athlete-To-Athlete will assist them in achieving their goal … There are many skaters who play in other sports. It’s the least our organizations can do to assist them. It’s a solid program that gives them legitimacy as an athletic group.”

Also promoting the Athlete-To-Athlete push is parent Kerri Cartelli. She thinks the fundraiser could work. Although many parents are not skateboarders’ parents, they might sympathize as parents of athletes. “They are more likely to understand our need,” Ms Cartelli said. Can they spare $5? Possibly not, but anything, even $1, helps.

Her own children skate, she said, and she wishes she had a place to drop them off where they could safely ride their boards. “Now my kids are in the street skating; people yell at them to get out of the way,” she said.