Rosemary Sullivan, ’09, is from Upton, MA.  Rosie is a four year senior with interests in soccer, ski racing, and tennis.  Outside of Proctor she likes hanging out with friends and being outside.  She just turned 18!  She is a member of the winter Journalism class.

            As winter slowly creeps upon Andover and Proctor Academy, students have seen a variety of fundraising efforts. A couple groups of students and faculty have come together to collect money and toys for others in need. The two main fundraisers over December were Toys for Tots and a fund for local Andover families. Toys for Tots was run by Chuck Reid and Alejandra Young’s advisories. Terry Stoecker and Haley Peters ran the collection of money for the greater community of Andover.

            The collection for food and fuel for Andover families started in 1999 and was originally held during the fall until Thanksgiving. For four years the money collected by Terry and students was used to buy groceries, but for the fifth year it was changed to just giving a check to the Andover Elementary School. The elementary school then gave it out anonymously to families who needed it the most. Five years ago student Morgan Saunders stepped up and took charge of the fundraiser. The fundraiser dates moved from the fall towards the winter in order to help families pay for home heating and Christmas presents. Over her four years Morgan was able to collect around $3,200. Currently, Terry and Haley are collecting money and are also going to be holding a bake sale to encourage donations. Terry stated, “We can make a difference in peoples lives.”

            Chuck Reid’s advisory took over the Toys for Tots campaign last year and this year his wife Teri and Alejandra joined in. Before Chuck took over Bob Livingston and Dola Neil were in charge. This year during Fall Family Weekend, the fundraiser started collecting and advertising their campaign. Both advisories made posters and worked on bake sales in order to get more money and toys.  Drop boxes were placed all over campus in hopes of collecting toys. This winter the advisories were able to collect around $1,300 and many toys.

            As a strong community, we believe it is students and faculty obligations to reach out to others in need locally and across the United State. People within the Proctor community are so fortunate to have what they do, and it really shows the character of the school when we reach out during times of need to aid others.  Every single person’s donations and effort add up to create huge accomplishments.