New Canaan High School's new Carver Club founded by Kiera Russo brings joy and wellness activities to Carver
Carver Annual Halloween Party this Friday!
Beth and David Atlas graciously host Carver's Westport Connections in their home
NEW CANAAN VINEYARD VINES, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 4-7 PM, YOU GET 10% OFF YOUR PURCHASE AND VINEYARD VINES IN NEW CANAAN DONATES 10% OF YOUR PURCHASE TO CARVER!
New Canaan Volunteers Support Carver's CASPER Students
Katherine Somerby
Katherine Somerby recently graduated from The Taft School and is on her way to a volunteer commitment in Costa Rica before heading to college in Scotland. Katherine's aunt, Elizabeth Somerby, also a New Canaan resident, has been a Carver volunteer for more than two years. They are with our K-5 CASPER students in these photos. Carver greatly depends on its more than 500 volunteers a year. New Canaan volunteers and donors abound, from all ages and from many different points of origin.
Elizabeth Somerby
Examples include St. Luke’s School students organizing annual events for Carver kids such as the annual Christmas celebration including games, face painting, Santa and gifts for Norwalk youth; and individual volunteers from New Canaan serving Carver in many capacities, from serving on the Board of Directors to volunteering as tutors, participating on various committees and/or one-time initiatives. New Canaan youth have been participants in the Carver Basketball League and our AAU League. Teams from both leagues have gone on to win county and state titles through the years. Perhaps Carver’s most prominent volunteer is Richard Whitcomb, the former long-time headmaster of St. Luke’s School, who has made Carver his priority commitment in retirement and serves on the Carver Board of Directors.
Junior Youth Development Program students at the Carver Community Center begin a book club
The first book the Jr. YDP students chose is The Hate U Give. It is a young adult novel by Angie Thomas, that follows a protagonist drawn to activism after she witnesses the police shooting of her unarmed friend. Published February 28, 2017 by Balzer + Bray, The Hate U Give opened at number one on The New York Times young adult best-seller list. It is Thomas's debut novel. The book is presently being made into a movie.
The Carver Jr. YDP book club is called BAC (Book Adaptation Club) after books that are made into movies. Shooting began two seeks ago with Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games) playing the lead role of Starr, a 16-year-old girl who’s from a low-income neighborhood but attends an elite prep school in the suburbs, only to be torn between two worlds when she witnesses her unarmed friend shot to death by a police officer.
Donors responded generously to an online appeal, and BAC students now have 25 copies of The Hate U Give.
The BAC students designed the flyer to promote their club. The new Carver student-run club is a hit at the Carver Community Center, and it's just beginning!
Steak Out for Charity at Sedona Taphouse: Carver benefits for every steak dinner on 10/16, 23 and 30
New Canaan Advertiser: New Canaan helps Carver educate Norwalk kids
A recent Connections Party to raise funds for the Carver Foundation of Norwalk drew 75 people. These include, top, from left, Joe Gallagher, Novelette Peterkin, Nick Williams, Shaniya Mesilien, Dick Whitcomb, Whitney Williams and Carla Romeus; bottom, from left, Ayasha Cantey and Nakai Steen. — Contributed photo. New Canaan recently helped educate kids whom are apart of the Carver Foundation of Norwalk, and at the Carver Community Center also in Norwalk.
See the article here.
By New Canaan Advertiser on October 5, 2017
A recent fundraiser at the New Canaan home of Nick and Whitney Williams drew 75 guests and raised “significant funds” for the Carver Foundation of Norwalk.
The nonprofit, founded in 1938, provides after-school and summer programs for public school students in Norwalk in the schools and at the Carver Community Center.
The Sept. 24 Connection Party was to raise funds and build awareness of Carver and its mission, said Director of Philanthropy Joe Gallagher.
“We serve 835 kids in after-school and summer programs,” he said. “We contract a late bus to bring the students home from the Norwalk Public Schools who are in the after school programs, and one of the bus routes stops at Carver for students that go there.”
Carver employs teachers from the city’s public schools and has van transportation for some of its students.
“I feel blessed that I’m associated with this place,” said Richard Whitcomb, a board member and advisor, interviewed by phone from the Carver Center recently.
A former headmaster at St. Luke’s School, he’s served as a board member and advisor for nine years.
“I get up the morning and have a place to go,” Whitcomb said. “When I retired I would do some volunteering. I searched. I do a lot in New Canaan. This is my number one cause. It’s extraordinary what they do. It’s an organization that’s one of the top organizations in Connecticut to do what they do in a state where everything was cut down. We’re still hanging in there. It’s all about helping kids.”
Nick Williams, a Town selectman and former New Canaan Board of Education member said many of the programs, like the tutoring that Carver provides for Norwalk students, are programs that parents in New Canaan can afford to pay for themselves, or are already provided in the New Canaan public schools.
“Since 2005, Carver students graduated from high school on time and nearly all have become first generation college students in their families,” Williams noted.
“Whitney and I went to a fundraiser in Darien and Joe Gallagher was there, and a number of students,” said Williams. “We toured the Carver Center in Norwalk and met a number of students. We spoke to advisors. We looked at a new computer lab which is fabulous. To have a social service organization that’s doing what Carver does so close to New Canaan where we forget how lucky we are. Working with and assisting Carver is an opportunity to spread some of that luck around. This in my mind is a great way to do that.”
Hear Carver Alumnae, Gabbie Pierre-Louise, sing tomorrow evening at a City Hall event!
Carver alumnae and Norwalk resident Gabrielle Pierre-Louise (Gabbie, 21 years old) is currently studying to be a dentist at the University of Bridgeport, inspired by years of helping her mother and father and other family members deliver humanitarian relief and dental care in particular to Haiti and other places in need. Gabbie is a gifted vocalist who is using her prodigious talent to support Carver and others in the community. Gabbie will be performing at an event tomorrow evening at City Hall, it's an event called "An Evening at Oyster Town," celebrating businesses of Norwalk. Gabbie will perform 3 songs for an audience to include Mayor Rilling and Senators Bob Duff and Bruce Morris. Don't miss it!
