The Allegany County Town Highway Superintendents Association
(ACTHSA), due to Covid-19 restrictions, were not able to hold their annual
December Highway meeting which has for many years included their annual
Allegany County Community Action Angels toy drive. The ACTHSA has been a donor
to the Community Action Angels for over a decade, so rather than just take a
pass on the holiday giving and being aware of the Community Action Angels needs,
they challenged members to go bigger and better, which is an annual challenge
issued by President Kevin “Fred” Demick and Cuba Village Supervisor, Rick
Hall. They delivered!!
This year, with its continuous challenges to stay safe and
to help follow state COVID-19 safety measures, the Association put together
something a bit different than their usual December meeting & toy drive. On
December 8, 2020, the ACTHSA put together an outside drive-thru toy drive at
the Belfast Town Municipal Facility. This event not only benefited Community
Action Angels, but local businesses also.
ACTHSA members greeted Melissa Payne, Community Action
Angels Coordinator, in Belfast where she participated at the drive-thru event,
where members of the association dropped off their annual donations of toys, gifts
& cash donations and picked up their choice of 1 of 110 $20 gift cards from
local restaurants & businesses from within Allegany County purchased and
given out by the ACTHSA to also help support our local businesses during this
time of struggle. Having promised a big
surprise gift, members then unveiled a battery operated ride on Mack truck, to
be given to one lucky family this year. “Last year, the Highway
Superintendent’s Association moved me to tears with their grand contribution to
our program,” said Payne. “This year they did it again. I originally thought
that the Mack truck was there for decoration but when Rick Hall explained that
the truck was also coming to us, you could have knocked me over with a
feather!”
Community Action Angels annually serves over 250 children
with Christmas gifts, made possible by a number of generous donors and
volunteers throughout the Christmas season.
By December 15th of this year, the program had taken in applications for
well over 350 children, an increase that was anticipated by the program. Each
child eligible for ACCORD’s distribution received toys or a gift card valued at
$50.
Director of Community Operations, Belinda Knight, has
observed the Association’s efforts over the years. She reminisced. “It started
with five 33 gallon garbage bins with bright red bows and a few extra bags of
toys that would fit into the agency’s van. A couple years later, the donations
grew so we needed a pick-up truck as well as the van. This year I noticed they added
two more collection bins and ultimately needed an enclosed trailer to take all
of the items to our warehouse where we distribute the toys to families.”
Association President Kevin “Fred” Demick has always looked
forward to this annual event. “This has always been a great event! Stepping up
in these times of need is only part of what we are about and I would like to
acknowledge everyone that is involved with the ACTHSA for once again stepping
up thru this pandemic and being essential workers carrying on with needed work
to keep all aspects of our infrastructure up and operational! These longtime
members include but are not limited to Town Highway Depts., Village Streets
Depts., Vendors, County DPW, Sherriff’s Dept., NYSDOT, SWCD, Emergency Services
and State & Local Legislators. Over several decades together we have
overcome many floods, windstorms, ice storms, blizzards, tragic highway shop fires
with major loss of equipment and other State Emergencies and now we’ll work to
help get thru this Covid-19 pandemic! This Association has become an elite band
of Brothers & Sisters to represent our County, each and every one of you
that are part of this Association should be proud to be a part of it! KUDOS to
you all!! Once again it’s so inspiring that this Association is there to
step-up in the time of need within our County!!”
ACCORD
is the designated Community Action Agency serving Allegany County through a
variety of local, State and Federal grants to provide services to individuals,
children and families living in the crisis of poverty. For more information on
the Community Action Angels and other programs, visit www.accordcorp.org.
