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| Sally Palm, left, and Maureen McAlear gather together the items donated by residents of The Resource Center’s apartments on Benedict Avenue in Jamestown. The items were given to Our Soldier Support, a local organization that collects and ships goods to U.S. troops overseas. |
Individuals with disabilities who receive services from The Resource Center are known for volunteering their efforts to assist other charitable causes. Recently, several people donated items to support a local organization that assists soldiers overseas.
Sally Palm, who lives in TRC’s supportive apartments on Benedict Avenue in Jamestown, recently saw a Post-Journal article about Our Soldier Support, a local group dedicated to sending care packages to American soldiers serving overseas. Sally asked a TRC staff member to explain the article to her, and after learning what Our Soldier Support does, she was determined to help.
"We have to help our soldiers over there, 'cause they are fighting for us and our freedom," Sally said.
She and TRC staff spread the word among her fellow residents in the apartment building, and several of them joined her in donating items to Our Soldier Support. Together, the group gathered enough items to fill one large box and eight grocery bags. Items donated included candy, beef jerky and other food items; puzzle books; and beverage koozies, as well as money to pay for the items to be shipped overseas. TRC staff members assisted Sally and her friends, but the initiative was theirs.
“We here in the supportive apartments gave these individuals support,” said Wendy Stimson, Community Living Skills Instructor at the Benedict apartments, “but they independently saw the need and jumped in to help. We are very proud of these kind and helpful Americans.”
The Resource Center supports America’s troops in other ways. Production workers at TRC’s work centers in Jamestown, Dunkirk and Buffalo assemble dozens of different items that help keep soldiers safe, including first aid kits. And last year, TRC’s Day Habilitation Program on Hazeltine Avenue in Jamestown launched “Operation: Comfort and Love from Home” to collect stationery and pens, playing cards, magazines, snacks and personal-care items and send them overseas.