Letter to the Editor: Thanks For Supporting Campership Program

To the Editor:

Before the school busses start rolling again, the Westport Department of Human Services would like to thank all those individuals, groups, teams and agencies who made this past summer brighter for hundreds of children and families in Westport and Weston.

Westport and Weston families who met income eligibility guidelines were invited to participate in the Campership and Back to School Programs, both funded primarily through community donations to the Westport Families in Need Fund through the Department of Human Services which supplemented the many camp scholarships given by the organizations themselves.

With the cooperation and financial support of many, more than 500 weeks of “camperships” to various local day camps, sleep-away camps and other programs were enjoyed by 134 Westport/Weston children from 89 families. Special thanks go to the Westport Parks and Recreation Department, Camp Mahackeno Outdoor Center of the Westport Weston Family Y, Westport Continuing Education, Westport Historical Society, Longshore Sailing School and Peak Performance for their hundreds of weeks of camp scholarships. Further afield, generous scholarships were given by YMCA Camps Jewell, Becket, Hazen, Hi-Rock, Mohawk and Woodstock plus Camp CONNRI.

At the end of the summer, the Human Services Department conducted its “Back to School” program, where 103 Westport families with 221 children were able to choose backpacks and supplies for the new school year, as well as receiving a gift card for new shoe purchases.

In addition, Silver of Westport and Lollipop Guild in Westport donated hundreds of clothing items, backpacks and shoes to our clients, affording many students brand new “first day of school” outfits.

For both programs, in addition to over 80 wonderful individual donors, the Department would like to thank the PTA’s of all eight Westport schools, the Salvation Army, Toquet Hall, the Westport Police Benevolent Association, the Westport-Weston Foundation, the Hurlbutt Foundation, the Grace Salmon Foundation, Westport Sunrise Rotary, the Westport Rotary Club, the Westport Young Woman’s League, Assumption Church, Christ and Holy Trinity Church and the United Methodist Church for their generous donations.

The efforts of all these wonderful people and organizations remind us once again how fortunate we are to live here.

Barbara Butler

Director, Department of Human Services