REAS Meets Fundraising Goal - Demand May Be Increasing, However
The following article was published in today’s (10/28/08) Southbridge Evening News.
BY CHRISTOPHER TANGUAY
NEWS STAFF WRITER
STURBRIDGE — The Residential Energy Assistance for Seniors (REAS) Foundation has reached its goal, and then some. That may not be enough however.
In a letter to the Southbridge Evening News Monday, Executive Director of the REAS Foundation, Thomas Creamer wrote, “Three weeks shy of our Nov. 15 fundraising deadline, the community of Sturbridge residents and businesses have passed the $20,000 goal by three percent, with donations still coming in and yet to be tabulated.”
On Saturday Oct. 18, at the annual Sturbridge Harvest Festival, Creamer said that whereas the organization has received an overwhelming amount of support from members in the community, the need for additional support is becoming apparent. “We’re going to have to make every effort to increase our amount,” Creamer said.
The purpose of the REAS Foundation is to provide heating assistance to Sturbridge seniors with funds generated solely through donations from area residents and businesses .
Following the inception of the foundation, a $20,000 goal was set and achieved through two efforts: the 10k Circle of Friends, which raised $10,000 through 1000 - $10 donations and the 10k Circle of Businesses, which also raised $10,000 through commercial donations.
“This is nothing short of amazing on the one hand, yet predictable on the other,” Creamer said in his letter. “Amazing, in that a group of residents with little experience in a project of this undertaking were able to so quickly and efficiently establish an organization to address the issue of energy assistance for seniors. Predictable in that the amazing community we live in is one in which fellowship is the foundation of our daily lives.”
After meeting and surpassing that goal, Creamer said that the volume of requests the organization has already received from residents has been so great that the foundation is going to set another benchmark for itself to reach in order to help as many neighbors as possible. “We don’t want to be in the situation where someone comes to us for help and we can’t help them,” Creamer said.
As of last week, Creamer said that 25 applications for assistance had been given out, and 16 already returned. “And this is only October,” Creamer said, questioning how large the demand will be in the colder winter months.
MORE FUNDRAISING
Additional fundraisers will be held throughout the coming months to help maintain the REAS bank account, from which Creamer said, not one nickel has been taken to cover advertising or other costs, all of which he said are paid for out of the pockets of volunteer members.
Just this past weekend, REAS representatives were at area grocery stores selling chances on gift baskets that will be raffled off, including a basket donated by Shaw’s in Sturbridge hat Creamer said contained $60 worth of food and an additional $100 gift card.
Rich Paradise, REAS associate and organizer of the foundation’s Labor of Love program, which aims to help a couple Sturbridge residents each year with a weekend of moderate domestic work and repairs, said that while that program is still in the works, with a team of volunteers already coming together for kick off in the spring, many of the members involved, including himself, have put their energies towards fundraising as well.
“We have some volunteers lined up,” Paradise said. “But what we’ve been doing, we’ve all been working on our fundraisers for the fall.”
The next fundraiser the foundation is planning will be a wine tasting at the Historic Publick House Inn on Route 131 in Sturbridge on Nov. 20. Paradise said that ticket information would be available soon on the foundation’s Web site www.reasfoundation.org. Information on making a donation or applying for assistance is also available via the Web site.
“We are honored to serve as a vehicle of your love, your generosity, and your selflessness,” Creamer concluded his letter. “And we thank you for allowing us to partner with you. We still have much to do as the need is growing weekly; yet we are ever more motivated to continue this great work on YOUR behalf.”
News staff writer Christopher Tanguay may be reached at (508) 909-4132, or by e-mail at ctanguay@stonebridgepress.com.