Rowayton Fire Department's Annual Toy Drive results in mountains of joy for Carver kids

Joan and Mike at the Carver Community Center after bringing in all the gifts collected for Carver kids by the Rowayton Fire Department. These mountains of gifts will now be wrapped by yet more volunteers. Holidays at Carver are always community events!

As they do each year, the Rowayton Fire Department collected a fire truck full of toys and other gifts for Carver kids.

The co-founders of the annual Rowayton Fire Department Toy Drive, Joan DeRegt and Mike Barbis, delivered all the donated gifts to the Carver Community Center yesterday. These mountains of joy constituted this holiday season’s veritable “plum pudding stuffed with good things.”

Rowayton’s volunteer fire department has been bringing great fun and wonder to Norwalk’s children for nearly 20 years.

Gifts include toys, sporting equipment, books and gift cards.

This is love in action, something Carver volunteers Joan and Mike are about all year long. There are many stories through the years described on Carver’s website pages and in Carver blog posts that exalt their names.

The magic of this holiday season never ends, and its greatest gifts are friends like Joan and Mike and their generous team of Rowayton volunteers. Though the world has grown weary this past year, the love these volunteers put into their giving keeps us all young and hopeful!

Carver's Gift Giving Event, Friday, 12/18, 4:30-6:30PM at the Carver Community Center

Help us complete the wish lists for Carver kids this holiday season!

Alumna Shantasia Best is a mother, wife and teacher with a big soul

L-R: Nia (9), Joseph, Noelle (3), and Shantasia.

Shantasia Best is a 4th grade teacher in the Bridgeport Public Schools district. She graduated from Western Governors University with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Elementary Education. But, of course, there is much more to her story than those milestones.

Bridgeport Public Schools, the largest district in the state, closed all in-person classes and moved to online-only learning on November 23rd.  This difficult decision came as COVID-19 cases spiked in Bridgeport and across the state, prompting school districts to grapple with their ability to safely host in-person classes as the virus spreads. All Bridgeport students have been provided with a device to use for remote learning and teachers trained for online classes. Teachers report to their school buildings to teach online from there, but the buildings remain closed to the public. Schools also provide to-go meals daily for students.

Whether remotely or in-person, teachers like Shantasia become impromptu social workers for their students, directing some families to food banks, acting as grief counselors for those who had family members die of COVID-19, and helping pupils work through their feelings of anxiety, depression and isolation. It’s also likely that for teachers with big souls like Shantasia’s, concern for one’s students comes at a cost to themselves.

“It was always my hope to serve communities similar to my own. I am very pleased that I can say I am indeed doing just that. In 2018, I started my career as an Instructional Interventionist in Norwalk. I was later given the opportunity to teach 4th grade in Norwalk Public Schools. I was given the opportunity to teach in Bridgeport in 2019, and I’ve been enjoying teaching in Bridgeport ever since,” Shantasia shared.

“I first realized my love for teaching children when working for Carver as a high school student. Running Carver’s Dance and Step teams gave me a foundation for teaching. Dance and Step are creative outlets that help me to connect to my students.” 

Shantasia is currently working toward earning a graduate degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Arkansas State University. 

“While I am proud of these achievements, I am most proud of being able to balance the demands of my career and the needs of my students with the joys and needs of my family.” Shantasia’s growing family (in the photo above) consists of Nia (9), her husband Joseph, and Noelle (3).

Coincidentally, Shantasia joined the Carver community in the 4th grade, in our CASPER after-school program at the Carver Community Center. And then she never left until leaving for college. During her high school years, in addition to teaching Dance and Step, Shantasia worked as a Carver summer camp counselor and as the gym coordinator at the Carver Community Center during each school year.

“Those were some of the best years of my life, because Carver as a community is a true family. Up until a few years ago, I stopped by Carver a few times each week, but my schedule eventually became too crowded. I miss regularly visiting and seeing the kids there. I think what I always loved most about Carver was being able to learn about and value my history, being engulfed in a nurturing culture with people who genuinely love and care for you.”

Most educators go into teaching not for fame or fortune but because of a passion to connect. Shantasia offers herself to her students — her energies, her gifts — with open-hearted generosity. 

In the midst of this pandemic, Shantasia offers her students hope and a sense of connectedness that is hard to find elsewhere. She builds on the truth that beneath the broken and threadbare surface of our society there remains a hidden wholeness.

Carver alumni are also our heroes. They take on impossible jobs and stay with them for the long haul because they live by a standard that is more important than mere effectiveness. The name of that standard may best be described as faithfulness — faithfulness to their gifts, faithfulness to their perception of the needs of the world, and faithfulness to offering their gifts to whatever needs are within your reach. For Shantasia, her faithfulness is to her students and her own young family.

“My advice for the next generation of Carver kids would be to keep pushing! You will not fail until you stop trying. And to stay in touch with the Carver family. it’s a community and family well worth keeping in touch with.” 

#GivingTuesday is next Tomorrow!

Giving Tuesday is tomorrow - December, 1st!

On #GivingTuesday, millions of people around the world will come together to support and champion the causes that are important to them and the communities in which they live. We hope you'll support Carver kids!

Your inbox is about to be full with alerts about #GivingTuesday. This global giving day is a response to commercialization and consumerism in the post-Thanksgiving season (Black Friday and Cyber Monday).

You are always generous to Carver kids. Thank you!

We promote Giving Tuesday because it’s a good thought and because we don’t want you to think we are not happy about this international giving day!

Calling for in-kind gifts to fill "Blessing Bags"!

Carver staff and volunteers also support adults in need — and the needs have never been greater. The pandemic has plunged many of our neighbors into poverty and even homelessness.

Before the Holiday Blessing Bag Giveaway on Saturday, December 26th, we need your support. We are collecting items now to fill the Blessing Bags. A suggested list is below.

(Travel Size Preferred)

• Toothpaste & Toothbrushes

• Soaps, Shampoos, Conditioners

• Deodorant, Lotion

• Hand Sanitizer, Wipes, Tissues, Disposable Masks

• Socks, Socks, Socks

• Gloves, Hats

• Snacks (Granola Bars, Nuts, Crackers, Cookies)

• Bottled Water

• Gift Cards (Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Burger King, ETC.)

• Or monetary donations welcome and we will shop for the necessary items.

Thank you for spreading LOVE. Your donation is greatly appreciated and will make a big impact on someone’s life today. If possible, please print and include your name and email with this form so that we can acknowledge your contribution and/or donation. 

Name:______________________________________________

Email:______________________________________________

Drop-Off Locations:

Carver Community Foundation – 7 Academy Street, Norwalk, CT

Hair by Julia – 77 Wall Street, Norwalk, CT

Contacts for more information:

• Tremain Gilmore (203) 981-2749      

• Ayasha Cantey (203) 807-3081     

• Julia Moore (203) 842-7197

• Jackie Roberson (203) 981-9371                        

• Jacob Tomlin (203) 820-1519

A Thanksgiving message from Dr. Estrella

The start of the holiday season is here, bringing yet another milestone in what has been an unprecedented year. While Thanksgiving celebrations will undoubtedly look different in 2020, the holiday should remain an opportunity to pause and reflect on life’s blessings.

Volunteer Pat O'Toole devotes months to kitting hats and gloves for Carver boys and girls!

Pat O’Toole (right) standing with Carver CEO Novelette Peterkin, each holding a bag for girls and boys full of holiday cheer — and warmth!

Bridgeport Rescue Mission brings Thanksgiving feasts to 150 Carver families

St. Luke’s School student volunteers

The Bridgeport Rescue Mission blessed the Carver community this Thanksgiving with 150 turkeys and all the trimmings for our families.

To help us offload the humungous truck was a team of students from St. Luke’s School, a close Carver partner for decades. Carver’s Chief Program Officer Brian Alert and Director of Elementary School Based Programs Tricia Massucco guided the day’s efforts.

As joyous as this project was, and as deeply grateful as the Carver community is for this profound demonstration of generosity, we are still saddened by the unacceptable reality of hunger in our midst. Each of the 150 families receiving these gifts were identified by Carver part-time staff (most of whom are daytime teachers) working in the 17 Norwalk K-12 public schools and Side By Side Charter School in which Carver operates its before- and after-school programs. The Thanksgiving dinners will be given to each family discretely.

Carver’s Brian Alert (middle) standing with Bridgeport Rescue Mission staff

Nearly 30 million children in the United States qualified for free or reduced-cost lunches at school in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated food insecurity among children, as the estimated number of food-insecure kids could jump from 11 million to an estimated 18 million, according to Feeding America.

COVID has of course made this year’s Thanksgiving Day strange and stressful for most everyone. For example, not snow, not rain, not gusting winds or the Great Depression have caused the cancellation of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in its 96-year history. The parade still seems poised to power through the pandemic tomorrow, albeit a parade that will be one block long, not the usual two miles. Those high school bands from around the country will not be marching, and instead of some 2,000 balloon handlers to coordinate, there will only be about 130.

Many of you may have had a difficult year this year with illness, loss, uncertain employment, and isolation due to COVID-19. We are so grateful for all the sacrifices that our many donors and volunteers have made this year to support and serve others and the Carver community. May this Thanksgiving be a time for you to rest and reflect on all that you have achieved for others. Wishing you a joyful and blessed day and better days ahead!

THANK YOU!

The Carver community is grateful this Thanksgiving, and our gratitude has been running deep all this year.

For all of you who’ve worked to maintain some predictability and consistency for our students in a year when nothing seems like it should be.

For our daytime teachers and other professionals who manage our after-school and summer programs, thank you for taking risks, trying new things, and moving out of your comfort zone in order to reach and inspire and support our students. You’ve gone the extra mile to give our students what they most need, whether it’s tech access, academic support, or some extra TLC.

For our school leaders who have doubled down on their support of teachers to make projects work in so many changing scenarios.

For all our perfectly wonderful donors who keep our wonderful world going.

Your courage and tenacity are an inspiration. What you’ve managed to do this year is incredible. And we’re so grateful for your commitment to our students.