The clean-up will be held in conjunction with a long-established one held by the Parks and Recreation Department.
The Chicopee Comprehensive High School track team is one group that has raised money recently for Lorraine's Soup KitchenCHICOPEE – As many as 500 volunteers are expected to spend Saturday raising money for Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and cleaning the city at the same time.
Students from Chicopee and Comprehensive high, Fairview Veterans and Edward J. Bellamy middle, Chicopee Academy, Holyoke Catholic and Holy Name schools are collecting pledges from friends and family who will sponsor them as they spend four hours raking, clearing brush and picking up trash, said Alfred J. Picard, a member of the Board of Directors for the kitchen and a retired school principal.
“It is a win for the soup kitchen because they can get needed funds and it is a win because the city gets its spring cleanup done,” he said.
The idea of taking pledges and having students perform community service was done years ago when volunteers raised money for a group home. The board decided to try it as the soup kitchen has been seeking new ways to raise money, Picard said.
Since the soup kitchen opened a new building off Meadow Street, fund-raising has become vital because it has new expenses, Kim Goulette, the kitchen director said.
“The schools already do an incredible job for us,” she said. “Any time we can collaborate with schools and churches and others, it makes it a wonderful event all around.”
The clean-up will be held in conjunction with a long-established one held by the Parks and Recreation Department. The two groups will share materials and other things, but they are working different hours and will mostly be in different places.
“We have done this for the last 11 years,” said Stanley J. Walczak, Parks and Recreation superintendent. “We solicit donations from local businesses and we issue money for each group which participates and that money goes to purchase equipment and other things they need.”
Mostly it is youth sports organizations that volunteer for the parks department. They work from about 9 to 11:30 a.m., he said.
The Recreation department brings anywhere from 200 and 400 volunteers. Because this is the first year for the Lorraine’s clean up, the number of volunteers who will attend is unknown, but Picard said he is hoping for 100 to 200 people.
The volunteers for the parks department are expected to fan out to work on 11 of the city’s 29 parks. The groups for Lorraine’s will be working at schools and other locations identified by the board, Picard said.
“We have a staff of 17 to 18 maintenance people and this is a tremendous help. This time of the year there is so much to do,” Walczak said.
Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said he wasn’t going to complain when Picard brought the idea to him, Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. and Walczak.
“I think it’s a great idea. The city employees can’t do the cleanup that is necessary especially after a long, hard winter,” he said.
Groups interested in participating in the clean up can contact Picard at Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen.