Members of WLDS/WEAI and Country Financial presented checks from proceeds of the annual basketball All Star Classic to New Directions Warming & Cooling Center and Camp Courage today at the Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau Office.
WLDS/WEAI’s Gary Scott says that the All Star Classic is rebuilding: “We gave each of the organizations checks for $400. That puts into well above $20,000 in the total time that we’ve had the All Star game. This year was down a little bit, but we had to bounce through a couple of years of no All Star game. We are rebuilding and hope to give more next year.”
Sarah Robinson of New Directions says that the proceeds will help keep their doors open: “This support is amazing. It’s exactly what we need to keep our doors open and to stay in operation. The community has been great. This is how we do it. We are still operating at half capacity at the shelter because of Covid. We have a max capacity of 10, but we average about 7 people a night. We are waiting on CDC guidelines for homeless shelters to be updated, but so far they have not changed. We are still doing social distancing and masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.”
John Hunter of Camp Courage says numbers have been down the last few years, but the donation helps provide campers a memorable experience: “This donation means the world for us so we can continue our program that we’ve had for the last 46 years. It’s an opportunity to get out and have a good time at the camp. We try to cap the number of campers at 35. That’s about the maximum we can handle with the bed situation, with everything that we have, and the counselor situation. Attendance has been a little down the last few years.”
Also on hand to present the checks from the All Star Game were WLDS/WEAI’s Mark Whalen and Country Financial Agent Lucas Turner.