Rotarians were out in force on September 13th in Neahwa Park at the Grand and Glorious Fall Fest to sell raffle tickets for the annual Operation Warm fund drive. According to organizer Dave Rowley, the weather did not clear up until the afternoon so the number of people attending the festival was down by 50% or more. Despite the inclement weather, Rotarians managed to sell $800 worth of raffle tickets. In total, the club raised $6,508 to purchase new winter coats and mittens for area school children. At the end of the day, Rotarian Sarah Patterson was selected to draw the winning ticket and in a surprising turn of events, the winning ticket was hers! Thank you to everyone that helped to sell tickets and made donations. Next steps include working with area schools to identify the number and sizes of coats needed, ordering the coats from Operation Warm, and sorting and distributing the coats before the first snowflakes of winter arrive. Thank you to everyone that helped to sell tickets and made donations. Your efforts and donations will help keep many, many school children warm throughout our Central New York winter.
