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REACHing Out to HelpBy Kristine Gegeshidze '15, Squad Reporter |
REACH, led this year by Stefany Gutu ’13, Tucker Iida ’12, and Vivien Peng ’12, is one of the largest community service groups on campus and is also an influential organization nationwide.
This year club members held their annual tag in September, where they sold many useful items like couches, fridges, rugs, chairs, fans, lamps, and clothes. The $4000 they collected went toward sponsoring unprivileged children in over twenty-five different local communities, providing them with stuff for school like back-to-school clothes, backpacks, winter coats, shoes, and school supplies. Ms. Sokolnicki, Community Service Director at Kent, said, “This year, the tag sale was the best of all from my memory; we sold all couches and tons of clothes. It was great.”
However, not everything was sold. The leftovers from the tag sale went to the Quality Thrift Store in Kent, to New Milford’s Goodwill store, and to the Danbury Dress for Success Store.
REACH kept up their efforts this fall by helping Mrs. Mary, a local resident of Kent. They helped to rake leaves from her yard and, in return, she gave them homemade cookies. Other activities included going to the soup kitchen, visiting a nursing home, and helping with Habitat for Humanity. They also gave Christmas presents and Halloween bags full of candies to homeless children.
This year, they are also organizing a trip to New York City to visit a shelter for the homeless.
Stefany Gutu said, “I think everyone should do a little bit of community service. It relies a lot on the group effort as opposed to the individual, so it’s important for a lot of people to get involved to make a difference. Community service is one of the greatest and yet easiest ways to give back.”
