by Carlene Phillips ·
Friday, October 11, 2024
The Harvard Lions Club announced Monday it is joining with the Harvard schools, churches, and local businesses to gather much-needed supplies and truck them first to a Massachusetts collection site and then to Asheville, North Carolina, an area devastated by Hurricane Helene.
The Harvard club’s initiative is part of a statewide effort by the Massachusetts Lions, which is gathering food and other necessities from clubs throughout the state and New England at a center in West Boylston. The state organization is coordinating the trucks and volunteer drivers who will transport the relief items south.
“What’s top of mind for me is the idea of this being a community response, not a Lions’ response,” said Harvard Lion Bill Johnson Tuesday evening. “We’re just organizing it. To me, this is the opportunity for a community response, for our community to help another community.”
Harvard donations are being collected at the unoccupied space next to Dunkin’ Donuts on Ayer Road, made available by franchise owner Steve Catalano. The space will be open every day for drop-off from 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Oct. 10 through Oct. 16, The area will not be staffed full time, but twice a day—at noon and in the evening—volunteers will organize donated items for shipment.
Students will be encouraged to bring donation items with them to school; school administrators will set up collection points at Hildreth Elementary and Bromfield schools and arrange for delivery to the Dunkin’ site.
“We are glad to join the effort,” Superintendent Linda Dwight wrote the Press Wednesday morning. “This will give students and their families an opportunity to help those most impacted in a meaningful way. Whenever there is tragedy or disaster, providing aid and support lessens feelings of helplessness or despair. Many students have seen the devastation on the news or have heard about it from relatives and want to help.”
Johnson told the Press the club hopes to fill a 24-foot box truck donated by another club member, Mike Eldridge, with desperately needed food, tools, personal care products, and other necessities by next Wednesday evening. A volunteer will drive Harvard’s contribution to West Boylston early the following morning, Thursday, Oct. 17.
The list of needed supplies ranges from toothbrushes and baby diapers to nonperishable foods, plastic sheets, and contractor trash bags. For a longer list see “Please Help North Carolina” graphic on this page. Donations should be limited to items on the list or to money (see address below); clothing is not wanted.
Colleen Oncay, chair of the Massachusetts Lions, said Tuesday night that cash donations are welcome. They will be used to purchase additional supplies and to defray the cost of transporting the state’s donations to North Carolina. Donors may also send packages directly to Colleen Oncay, c/o CMSC Auto School, 186 West Boylston Street, West Boylston, MA 01583. She has already received donations ordered from Amazon, she said.
Although the Massachusetts Lions are spearheading the effort, donations are arriving from clubs all over New England, Oncay said. The trucks for the trip to Asheville have been provided by Enterprise, and the plan was for the first to leave Oct. 10, followed by a second Oct. 17. But Oncay said the response has been so overwhelming that she expects to add a third truck to make the 14-hour journey to Asheville.
“As Lions, we do community service, so this is totally in our wheelhouse,” said Oncay. “The generosity and the spirit of compassion for the people down there has just—it’s been overwhelming.”
Volunteers wanted
The schools and the Lions need volunteers to help organize donations and to load the Harvard truck. To volunteer at the schools, contact Linda Dwight by phone at 978-456-4140 or by email at ldwight@psharvard.org. To volunteer elsewhere, phone Bill Johnson at 978-337-3738 or email him at bill.johnson@harvardmass.net.