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Date: 6/7/2021
SOUTHWICK – The Start ‘Em Early Foundation is hosting a tag sale June 12 and 13 to raise money for youth EMT education and autism education projects.
The sale is at 26 Point Grove Road Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. across from the Rail Trail Ale House.
Start ‘Em Early Foundation co-founder Erik Davidson said that the tag sale aims to fund three different projects. The first project is to provide youth education on what it means to be an emergency medical technician (EMT). Included in this, said Davidson, is a scholarship in the name of Sonja Kimball, an EMT and Davidson’s former partner and friend who passed away in February at the age of 36. The Sonja Kimball Memorial Scholarship will provide a high school graduate with $1,000 to receive training to become an EMT or firefighter.
The second goal of the tag sale is to fund the sensory sack project. The sensory sacks are small bags of items such as noise cancelling headphones, Rubik’s Cubes, weighted stuffed animals, and other sensory friendly items. The sacks are provided to law enforcement and first responders so that they may give them to people who suffer from sensory difficulties in situations in which first responders are called.
Davidson said that throughout the past year, at least 138 sensory sacks had been shipped to 45 different first responder departments in nine U.S. states.
The third goal of the tag sale is to fund projects for early education and intervention. Davidson said he was invited to the Massachusetts Public Education Conference on Fire and Life Safety in Hyannis in September, for which he needs money from the training budget.
Davidson said that he has never run a charity tag sale before. He is looking for donations of any items that are in sellable condition. He said he is trying to avoid taking large furniture items because of the logistics involved in pickup and drop-off.
“I have had a great response already. People in Otis, Northampton, and Southwick have already donated or offered to donate items,” said Davidson. He said that Southwick residents in particular have been extremely generous in their donations and support of the Start Em Early foundation.
“Even when I started the foundation officially, the Town of Southwick has been huge. You have no idea how much people have donated to us,” said Davidson. “Community donations last year alone, because of COVID, got us through.” Looking to the future, Davidson said that the foundation will be working with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the upcoming next season to host fundraising and sensory friendly hockey games.