‘HWRSD Cares’ for those in tornado’s path

Date: 7/5/2011

July 4, 2011

By Katelyn Gendron

Assistant Managing Editor

WILBRAHAM — Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) is doing its part to aid tornado relief efforts not only on the individual school level put district-wide.

The latest campaign titled, “HWRSD Cares” is a button fund-raiser to benefit the American Red Cross. Kathy Selvia, owner of New England Promotional Marketing, agreed to have her company front the costs to design and make the buttons.

“I really wanted to help because it [the tornado] hit so close to home. It was just down the street,” Selvia said. “I live in town and my children both went to Minnechaug [Regional High School] and it’s very close to my heart so why not help them to reach their goals?”

Two thousand buttons were ordered and a total of $1,600 has been raised by the sale so far, School Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea noted.

“Shortly after the tornado [on June 1], we began brainstorming how we could show support for families and staff that were affected by the tornado. Each school has some initiatives and at the district level we had the idea of HWRSD Cares,” he explained, noting the fund-raiser is ongoing.

School-based fund-raising efforts have yielded more than $3,7000 in monetary donations to each institution’s own tornado relief fund, O’Shea said, noting that monies were disbursed to students and staff affected by the events of June 1.

Minnechaug raised $2,500 with its dress down days, while Mile Tree School donated more than 300 pounds of food to the Community Survival Center and Stony Hill School collected $1,200 from its “Tornado Relief Café” fund-raiser, he noted.

O’Shea said the sale of the buttons would likely slow during the summer months because students are out of school but that he plans to contact local retailers to see if they’d consent to selling the buttons in their stores.

He noted that while the buttons are only selling for a suggested donation of $2, many people are giving a lot more.

To purchase a button, stop by the O’Shea’s office located at 621 Main St.