Honors Program contribute to Cradles to Crayons drive

10/01/2014

By Marissa Bean
Comment Contrbutor

The month of September brought move-in day, the start of classes, and a donation drive for Cradles to Crayons by the Honors Program.
Senior Dawn Sarno organized the drive. She said donation boxes were decorated by the Honors Mentoring Program during Welcome Week, and they “brought in a significant amount of donations and launched the drive before classes even began.”
The drive began on September 3 and ended on September 30. There were six donation boxes on campus, including one in the Honors Center.
Items donated included “new school supplies, such as crayons, spiral notebooks, binders and new or nearly new children’s books,” according to Sarno.
According to their website, Cradles to Crayons began in December 2000 when the organization’s founder Lynn Margherio was visiting family in Michigan. She noticed that her nieces and nephews had clothes and toys they didn’t use. This led her to consider who really needed these like-new and never-used items.
At home in Boston, Margherio visited shelters and health centers, asking if they had the resources to help families meet basic needs like clothing, according to their website.
The answer was almost always a no, so she began asking schools and other community organizations if they would collect items for children. Upon finding extra office space, she gathered the resources collected by the other organizations to be distributed to the children in the community who needed them the most.
Her organization was formally launched in 2002 after steady growth. It was named Cradles to Crayons at this time.
Even though the donation drive here on campus has ended, there are still ways to help this great organization. Students can begin a drive of their own, or volunteer at the Giving Factory in Boston.
Don’t have time to run a drive or volunteer?
“The easiest thing students can do to make a difference is spread the word about the organization,” said Sarno.
More information about Cradles to Crayons can be found on their website, www.cradlestocrayons.org.

Marissa Bean is a Comment Contributor.

Honors Program decorated donation boxes for the Cradles to Crayons drive

commentnewspaper

+ posts

commentnewspaper

Leave a Reply Cancel reply