By: Rebecca Miller
During two upcoming weekends, Swanton Band Boosters will have a semi parked at the school for anyone who wants to help, to drop off bags and boxes of items they are ready to share. (No Furniture, please.) The dates are April 10 and 11 and May 15 and 16, 2021, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Rain or Shine.
During those hours there will be student and adult helpers available at the semi trailer to unload your vehicle and load the semi.
It is preferred that items are already in bags or boxes, but Dawn Santchi said that they will have extra bags and boxes available for those who need them.
As COVID has shut down many fundraisers across the board, Swanton Band Boosters have found themselves with low funds, as have many groups. Creative thinking has made some rather different fundraisers surface, and the Band Boosters have chosen to pull one up that was done a few years back.
This year, Dawn Santchi, Band Booster VP, has her youngest who is a Junior, in the band, and so she and President Krista Pelland, who has a sophomore in the band, have stepped up to lead a Clothing Drive to raise funds.
Band Boosters group is made up of parents, guardians and grandparents of anyone who is presently in band, or was in the band. As they have not been able to do normal fund raising such as the Mattress Sale or Concessions at local parades, this clothing drive seems a great way to raise some much needed money.
The money will go toward the replacement of old instruments, uniforms for students who don’t fit any in stock, or different props that are needed for the band.
Savers, a line of Thrift Stores across the U.S., Canada and Australia, welcomes clothing drives, paying the donors by the pound. In the past the school connected with one in Toledo, but as that has closed, they will be driving two hours to drop off all of the items donated. Santchi said their goal is to raise at least $1000.
In order to do that, it averages out to seven garbage bags full of clothing items (includes sheets, towels, shoes, etc.) and two boxes of non clothing items such as pots and pans, for each of the 45 students involved with Band.
Some other fundraisers to which they are looking forward this year, are the 50/50 Raffel, Raffle Baskets and Concessions at the Corn Fest on the first Saturday in August. They are hoping to get to march in the Memorial Day Parade and have concessions for that as well. Concessions will be set up for the Fireworks on July 3rd, also
Anyone who would like to help, but does not have anything to give for the drive, is welcome to send donations of money to the school marked for the Band Boosters. If you have items within driving distance of Swanton Schools, but no way to get them there, Santchi said she would be willing to come and pick them up for you.
She was excited to share in a phone interview that someone already donated thirty bags of clothing. What a great way to get started!
Spring Cleaning can help the Band Boosters this year, so lets get started, and Have Fun!
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
1 Comment
Thanks for the wonderful article. On our first day the trailer is over half full. The Swanton Marching Band is hoping to March in the Memorial Day and Corn Fest Parades, we do not sell concessions at those events. We will be selling concessions at the high school Pavillion for on July 3 for the fireworks and hope to sell tickets at the Corn Fest in August for our Duck Drop/Duck Race ( plastic ducks).