.png)
On Tuesday, November 20, 2018, President Michelle Mullaly and her band of merry Rotary "elves" hit the ground running for the 2nd Annual "Pack the Bus" program. Rotarians Bruce Schorsten and Paula Mastroianni, along with office staff, Lauri and Barb, met President Michelle at the WalMart on Tuscarawas Street to shop for the children of Canton City Schools. Three hours later a grand total of $4,520.88 was spent on non-perishable food, clothing, winter coats, hats, and gloves, and hygiene products. These items were added to the items donated by Rotarians and the public, which were collected on Wednesday, November 15, 2018.
President Michelle's second shift of "elves" met later that day at Allen Elementary School and helped her unload the trailer. The "elves" consisted of Bob Matthews, Rick Taylor, Ernie Schott, Jim Thomas, Mark Rojek, Jim Blake, Bruce Schorsten, Lauri and Barb. Many helping hands were needed, so the children and staff of Allen Elementary stepped in to cheerfully help the Rotarians unload the items into a classroom where it was sorted.
Since the Rotary office is still receiving monetary donations, another shopping day will take place prior to the school system's Christmas holiday break! If you were unable to participate in this event and would still like to do so, it's not too late!
During the November 30th and December 7th meetings, we will once again be collecting your non-perishable food items or monetary donations. The Canton City Schools will inform President Michelle of any items they feel are still needed at the schools and an additional shopping day will take place. We still have an estimated $1,000.00 from grants received to spend on these children.
Remember the story Ernie Schott relayed during a recent Rotary meeting...."my wife, Patty, who was a school volunteer, told me about a Canton City elementary student who had complained about an upset stomach. The student was asked if he needed to use the restroom and his response was "no". He was then asked if he had had breakfast. The student replied he was given something to eat when he got to school that morning. The student was then asked what he had eaten for dinner the night before and his response "I had ice cubes for dinner".
The principal of Allen Elementary (Ernie and Patty Schott's daughter, Christen Sedmock) told President Michelle that when given the choice, students at her school will very often choose a toothbrush instead of candy.
Last year Canton Rotary was able to help restock the pantry at Allen Elementary, which subsequently helped students eat breakfast and lunch, plus snacks, during each school day. We also helped feed 80 families from three schools, Allen Elementary, Gibbs Elementary and Belden Elementary schools during the two-week holiday break, and also provide coats, hats, gloves, shoes, socks, underwear and clothing to students at Gibbs Elementary.
It is thrilling to know that just a few hours of hard work and some extremely generous individuals can change the lives of so many.
Thank you to the "elves" who worked the collection day on November 15th: Terri Barry, David Schrade, Ernie Schott, Bob Pattison, Chris Burt, Shawn Dougherty, Rick Taylor, Drew Pelger, Paul Hervey, Kyle Brown and Amanda Tietze; along with the "elves" listed above who worked the shopping/distribution day on the 20th.
