Winsor Hill, Firefighters pay it forward for Christmas

PAYING IT BACK: Dina Needam is visited by Firefighters Michael Letoile, Brian Moreau, Battalion Chief Richard Boehm, Lieutenant Joseph Puerini, and Captain Richard Guisti, who provided the school with $1,200 in gift cards to be used throughout the year.

THE GRINCH’S HEART: Children who provide donations to the Winsor Hill School Food Pantry placed a heart on this board to celebrate their gift.

PANTRY FOR KIDS: Dina Needham showcases the Winsor Hill School Food Pantry, which provides for families throughout the school year.

READY TO GO: Doreen Hudson, who assists with the pantry and making baskets, shares a lighter moment with Dina Needham.

Posted Thursday, December 21, 2017 11:44 am

By Tim Forsberg

Thanks to the efforts of students, faculty, staff, and Johnston Firefighters, families of the Winsor Hill Elementary School community will have a Christmas to remember.

For 20 years, Dina Needham has been a special education teacher at Winsor Hill. During the past eleven years, Needham has run the Winsor Hill School Food Pantry to ensure that children from families in need don’t go hungry during the school year.

This year, her dedication has ensured that ten local families will be totally provided for during the holidays. Donated items, provided by the community, include everything from electric blankets, toys, clothes, food, wrapping paper and much more for families to enjoy. The families will also be supplied with gift cards to supplement other needs, along with a Christmas dinner food basket, complete with a turkey.

“I know a lot of the families that need help. They’ll tell me what they need,” said Needham. “One mother told me that they had nothing this year, can you help me? And we do.”

Benefiting families are chosen based on need and recommendations from the community. Donations are given by teachers, staff, students, as well as anonymous donors. Needham will deliver the baskets and gifts directly to families if transportation isn’t available, and has already started distributing.

Last Friday, members of the Johnston Fire Department visited Needham at the school to provide $1,200 in gift cards to accompany the packages that Needham had created. The money was raised weekly by the firefighters through their pay.

“We’ve had a long relationship with Dina here at the school. We get about $2,000 in gift cards, I just gave $1,200 here and we’ll give some to Thornton School after this, and then we adopted a family at Sarah Dyer Barnes,” said Johnston Battalion Chief Richard Boehm. “We want to give back. We feel so blessed to be a part of the town, we feel that it’s a great thing to give back. We go on calls, we see what most people don’t see, so we know the need is there. Our guys are the most generous in the state…we do it because we know it’s needed, especially this time of year.”