Despite the economic downturn, the generosity of local businesses and residents is evident by the increase of donations to Neighborhood Foods' UNICEF campaign which wrapped up last month.
Thanks to the donations made throughout the year and during a two day UNICEF Days fundraiser in October, Peter and Young Choi of Neighborhood Foods will be giving the United Nations Children's Fund a check for $5,000! That's more than four times what was collected and donated the year before.
The Choi's collect for UNICEF all year long with a donation box by their cash register. In the month of October, they ask other Tower Square merchants and other tenants to also collect for UNICEF. Young Choi along with Bernadette Jones, a UNICEF volunteer, also oversee a two-day collection event in the food court in October as well.
Among the UNICEF contributors whom the Choi's would like to thank for their donations are: Rob Don, Emerald City Travel, Babson Capital Management, LLC, Hampden Bank, Consulting Management Group, St. Germain Co, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and Stateline Potato Chip Service Corp.
UNICEF works for children's rights, their survival, development and protection, guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF was created with this purpose in mind to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child's path. They believe that together we can advance the cause of humanity.
Festival of Trees Has Banner Season!
The Springfield Boys & Girls Club's11th annual Festival of Trees had the best season yet, as the event continues to grow in popularity.
Close to ten-thousand people attended the two-week long festival, which was held in the Tower Square Meeting Room last month. The event, featuring more than 100 beautifully decorated donated trees, which are raffled off at the end of the festival, raised over $87,000 dollars! That's up $13,000 from last year's event.
Proceeds from the Festival of Trees helps to fund the many programs that the Springfield Boys & Girls Club offers to local children throughout the year.
Food Bank to Benefit from Santa Breakfast
The proceeds from last month's sold-out Breakfast with Santa raised $500 for the Food Bank of Western MA!
More than 300 people attended the annual Tower Square event, featuring pancakes prepared by Tower Grill in the food court, as well as a magic show, face painting, craft station and free admission to the Springfield Boys & Girls Club's Festival of Trees.
The event is produced for the public each year by the CBRE/Tower Square management. Volunteers from the Central High School ROTC have run the Santa photo station, craft station and registration for the past six years. Every year the students choose a worthwhile non-profit agency to donate the proceeds from the Tower Square Breakfast with Santa.
This year, the students chose the Food Bank of Western MA. According to Colonel Tom Cleeland, who oversees the ROTC program at Central High School, "The students look forward to helping with the Breakfast with Santa every year, and give a lot of thought as to which organization will receive the event's proceeds. This year the students were glad to be able to help out the Food Bank."
