Last year Lane Masters asked representatives of the Telluride Elks Lodge No. 692 about donating school supplies to Norwood kids. Already the Elks Lodge had assisted Telluride families in need of school supplies for decades. He approached DeLanie Young, of the Elks Lodge, and she responded positively.
“We said, ‘awesome, get us details,’” Young told the Forum over the weekend.
Masters and Norwood Elementary School teacher Shelley Donnellon went to work on getting classroom counts, and the Elks board of directors made a donation to elementary grades.
Last year, approximately 94 students received backpacks with school supplies in them.
Young said the program has evolved over the years. Now, the Elks Lodge is filling a larger number of backpacks. The packs themselves are smaller, but the amount of school supplies has increased greatly.
“More stuff for kids,” she said.
The donation was organized again for this year, and Young said she’s not sure of the exact numbers, but the Elks did help support kindergarten through fifth grade, ensuring all students received a pack with school supplies. She agreed it felt good to help.
“Of course,” she said. “My kids are all grown now, and we couldn’t have made it in Telluride without help occasionally. It’s a way to give back to people who need help these days.”
Young said she wants to expand the program in the future, and next year she’s hoping the Elks has a grant writer in place to work on such things.
Donnellon told the Forum Katie Alexander, of The Coach’s Mother, also helped spearhead the school supply program. Alexander helped the communication and involvement of both the Elks and also Timberline Ace Hardware. Ace is now helping to support the middle and high school kids who might need items.
Mary Carman, who is the social media and marketing manager for Ace, told the Forum Aug. 9 that when asked, they immediately agreed to help too.
“We basically said if they had lists of supplies, anything from any grade, and they gave us a list,” Carman said.
Carman said the request included a variety of items, but Ace employees took everything they had in stock and made it available.
“What we could donate, we gave,” she said.
Over the weekend, Carman said she’d checked on the status of the donation, and it was all being assembled. She added the store’s owners, Tom and Jennifer Mortell, of Telluride, are very gracious with their giving.
“They are so about being part of the community,” she said. “They try to give opportunities and help wherever they can.”
Donnellon said what the organizations have done means so much for school families and educators. A mom of three children who is also teaching second grade, she knows first-hand what it’s like to begin the new year.
She’d had some parents texting her with worries about what to buy this year, and Donnellon was able to let them know the supplies had all been handled.
“It can be so stressful for the moms,” she said. “This takes something off their plate.”
Donnellon said on behalf of Norwood Public Schools, she thanks all involved — The Elks Lodge, Timberline Ace Hardware and The Coach’s Mother — for their kindness in giving to the school children as they begin another year of learning.
Editor’s note: Funding for this story was provided by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, as part of its "Spreading Love Through the Media" initiative, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
