By Josh LaBella
Voice Reporter
More than two dozen people crowded into the back of Randall’s Restaurant to participate in fundraiser to aid a program that offers school supplies for in-need students. The game was Trivia, and participants had to be up on various categories during the event.
Dana Parades, principal of West Haven High School, said the program, Westies on Wheels, has been running for six years and that she and others started it to buy school supplies for students in West Haven who need it most.
“In July and August we buy tons and tons of school supplies. We fill up school buses, and we go into all the neediest areas in West Haven and distribute free backpacks, school supplies and hygiene supplies,” said Parades, “to any student who is in need so that everybody can start the year ready to go.”
Parades said they go to four different locations every year, including Meadowbrook and Savin Rock Conference Center. She said Westies on Wheels fundraises all year and that the trivia night is just one type of event they host.
“We usually make about $5,000 a year,” said Parades. “I don’t know how much we made for this year so far. But whatever we make we give out. Whether we make $3,000, that’s what we give out. If we make $5,000, we give out supplies until they’re gone.”
During the event, teams of up to six answered 10 questions from each of the categories – which included general history, literature, and 1990’s television. After each category, Parades tallied up each groups correct answers and announced who was in the lead. The team that won the game, and the gift basket reward, was named “Dumb and Dumberer.”
Parades said every year the response is huge. She said last year they gave out around 900 backpacks alone. She said businesses such as Costco also donate supplies to the program. According to Parades, there are a few teachers and about 30 students who volunteer to help with fundraisers.
Lauren Kozlowski, a science teacher at West Haven High School, said the program started with them collecting supplies at her house. She said, as a school teacher, it is rewarding to help give students the supplies they need.
“Being a school teacher, when you’ve got kids that need supplies and they don’t have them,” said Kozlowski, “and now they do have them and they don’t have to feel embarrassed. It kind of levels the playing field so that everyone can start off the school year on the same foot.”
Kozowski said it is instantly gratifying to be a part of Westies on Wheels. She said it is amazing how many people line up to get supplies and that it is nice to be able to service a need in the community.
Parades said the turnout could have been better, but it was about what they expected. She said they never make a lot of money at one time – it comes in “drips and drabs.”
“We make a couple bucks here, a couple hundred bucks there,” said Parades. “A couple hundred bucks will buy us like 400 packages of pencils in July. We probably made two or three hundred dollars [tonight].”
Pete Trenchard, a history teacher at West Haven High School, said he came to the trivia at Randall’s to support Westies on Wheels, to hang out with colleagues outside of a classroom setting, as well as to compete against them. He noted that most of the people attending the fundraiser were teachers within the West Haven School system.
“I think it shows you how much everybody cares about our jobs and the community that we teach in,” said Trenchard. “Most of the people in this room also live in West Haven. So we teach here. We live here. We care about the community. We care about the kids that we teach and just want to see them succeed.”