To the Editor:

Thank you, Newtown! When we put out the call for nonperishable donations to be brought to the parade in honor of Lee Paulsen and FAITH Food Pantry, we never in our wildest dreams imagined this: your food donations filled a large landscaping truck, and you donated over $2,200.

To Melissa Kopcik and Meredith Roland, lineup coordinators of the Newtown Labor Day Parade Committee, we cannot thank you enough. Your energy, enthusiasm, and organizational skills put this dream of ours in motion. A huge thank you also goes out to Emil Roland of Golden Landscaping, and Nick Kopcik of NJK Automotive, not only for lending your trucks, but also for jumping right in to help organize, collect, and deliver the donations. Thank you to Boy Scout Troop 70 for carrying our banner and for running right along with us, collecting the hundreds of donation bags along the parade route.

We could not have done this without the support of Scott and Sherri Baggett, Parade Vice President Tom D'Agostino, Chuck Paulsen, Jim Shpunt, Peter, Linda, and Breanne Lubinsky, and the too numerous to mention FAITH volunteers and friends that helped us plan, prepare, and collect donations along the parade route. The wonderful Tuesday morning crew at FAITH jumped right in, sorting and organizing the food donations, as soon as they were delivered.

Our final thank you is for Karin and AJ Fitzgerald, and their boys Ryan and Parker, who had the toughest job of the day - Imagine standing on a truck that continually starts and stops, for over two hours, while hundreds of bags of food are handed in to you? That's exactly what the Fitzgeralds did.

Thank you, Newtown, from Lee, and all the FAITH volunteers for whom this is truly "A Labor of Love."

Terry Ferris

Carol Walker

FAITH Parade Food Drive Organizers

31 Pecks Lane, Newtown         September 6, 2017