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PUTNAM --- Putnam Interact Club teens have been organizing and staffing the Salvation Army Kettle campaign each Christmas season since 1997. This year, the teens participated in the second annual Ring-A-Ding Challenge, where area schools are challenged to recruit volunteers to stand at the kettles and ring the bells for donations. A plaque, along with a traveling trophy and banner, is awarded to the school with the most volunteer hours over the four to five week campaign.
This year, for the second year in a row, Marianapolis Preparatory School was the winner of the challenge with 43 students logging 377 hours. Putnam Science Academy challenged the champs by logging 312 hours and volunteering the largest number of students at 78. Woodstock Academy (200 hours; 23 students), St. Mary School (119 hours; 23 students) and Thompson Middle School (80 hours; 14 students) round out the top five. Other schools that participated were Academy of the Holy Family, Putnam Middle School, Pomfret Community School, ACTS, Putnam High, Pomfret School, and Sts. Peter and Marian. A total of 1,112 volunteer hours were logged from 192 volunteers. This resulted in a record-breaking total of dollars raised at over $17,200.
Irene Mosher, representative for the Salvation Army, recognized the Interact Club members at recent pizza party. She spoke to the students about the importance of their efforts for many families in the Putnam area. The traveling trophy and banner, along with a plaque for this year’s efforts was awarded to Marianapolis. The top bell ringers, all from Marianapolis, were also recognized: Caresse Peters (44 hours), Nickolette Morin (28 hours) and Evan Simpson (28 hours) .
The Interact Club also recognized the generosity of the stores that participated in the campaign: Price Chopper, Sears Essentials, Stop & Shop, Walmart, and Putnam Supermarket. Certificates of appreciation were also given to WINY radio and the Putnam Rotary Club for their support.
“The Interact Club has really enjoyed the success that the Ring-a-Ding Challenge has provided and we look forward to a third year in 2010”, said Kaitlyn Kenney, co-president of the Putnam Regional Interact Club. Maybe next year a different school will have bragging rights to the challenge. But until then, the trophy and the banner will be displayed at Marianapolis Preparatory School for a second year.