DANIELSON, CONN. - People and pets alike will be having a happy holiday this year after members of the independent Star Trek fan association, the U.S.S. Charter Oak NCC-63545, collected 697.6 pounds of food and products for people and pets as part of their third-annual Holiday Fill the Shuttlecraft Campaign outside the Stop & Shop and Petco in the Killingly Commons in Dayville, Conn.
“All I can say is, ‘wow!’” drive organizer Ryan O’Connor said. “There have been so many different organizations holding drives these past few weeks for one charity or another, and for us to collect as much as we did, just goes to show how generous this amazing community is.”
The items collected are being split between three different charities in Connecticut with the pet food and supplies going to the Connecticut Humane Society. The toys collected are going to the Putnam Family Resource Center, while the cans and boxes of non-perishable food received during the drive will go to the Thompson Ecumenical Empowerment Group (TEEG); a donation that TEEG’s Resource Developer, Chelsea French, says will go a long way toward helping the community.
“We call ourselves the Quiet Corner,” French says, “we’re really a corner that takes care of our own. You don’t see that anywhere else. We don’t get the support from Hartford, but we get the support right here. You can’t beat any of that, and it makes us as an agency, myself specifically, very proud to be part of the community.”
O’Connor says that an event like this would have never been possible if not for the support of four major contributors saying, “We have to give a big thank you to both Stop & Shop and Petco for allowing us to, once again, hold this drive between their two stores. They have proven for these past three years to be huge supporters of their community. Also, a big thanks needs to go out to Putnam Plastics who allowed one of our crewmembers to set up a donation box at their facility; donations that made up for more than 70 pounds of today’s drive. Lastly, but surely not least by any means, is the community. This community embodies [Star Trek Creator] Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a future where there is no hunger, no greed, no want, and no need.”
While it’s unknown how many families will benefit from the donations to the Putnam Family Resource Center, French says that the food collected by the U.S.S. Charter Oak will have a large impact on their clients as TEEG expects to assist more than 290 households this holiday season.
Donations can still be made to each of the three charities receiving the items collected by the U.S.S. Charter Oak. To learn more on how you can donate to TEEG, visit their website at teegonline.org. You can contact the Putnam Family Resource Center on Facebook or by contacting the Putnam Public School Office. The Connecticut Humane Society has three physical locations in Newington, Waterford, and Westport in addition to their website, www.cthumane.org, where you can donate goods.
Star Trek is a science fiction franchise owned by CBS and Paramount. It was created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966, and has had 12 television series and 13 movies produced as part of its franchise. The U.S.S. Charter Oak is a Connecticut-based fan group made up of more than two dozen members from across the state as well as members who reside in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Arkansas. Learn more about the U.S.S. Charter Oak on their website, usscharteroak.org.
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