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War Vets fundraising campaign gets big boost
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.The Junior Women’s League of Canfield donated $5,000 to Scotty Crawford and his fundraising campaign to fix up and beautify the Canfield War Vets Museum. Pictured are, from left, Denise Sargent, Sherree Zamary, Scotty Crawford, Diane Smythe, Mary Ann Dwyer and JWL president Marnie Murphy.
By ABBY SLANKER
Scotty Crawford, a fifth-grade student at Canfield Village Middle School, is a man with a mission for a good cause. A little over a year ago, Crawford started a fundraising campaign to fix up and beautify the Canfield War Vets Museum. After writing letters and speaking to community groups, Crawford is well on his way to reaching his goal of $18,000, thanks to the support of the Canfield community.
Crawford’s campaign started with a third-grade class field trip in 2013.
“It started in April 2013, when I had the Canfield Tour with my third-grade class and I noticed the War Vets Museum needed work and cleaned up. And so, I asked my mom how could we raise money for this project. An estimate to get the War Vets Museum painted and the area landscaped was about $18,000.
“My mom told me I either had to ask people or write a letter explaining why I wanted to do this. I wrote the first letter in March 2014. With my first letter, I raised about $2,000. I wrote another letter in September 2014, and I have raised another $11,000.
“The Junior Women’s League of Canfield invited me to speak at one of their meetings last October about my project and they were the first really big donation I received and they were very nice to me. So, I have received some big donations from the Junior Women’s League of Canfield for $5,000, $1,000 from the Jane Lamb Foundation through Farmers Trust Company and $1,000 from the Frank and Pearl Gelbman Foundation at Huntington Trust. There were many donations received through my letters and the neighborhood campaigns in Canfield. People in Canfield are very generous when there is a cause and I really appreciate it,” Crawford said.
The Junior Women’s League of Canfield was more than happy to support Crawford and his cause.
“The purpose of the Junior Women’s League of Canfield is to give back to the community. Proceeds from the sale of our cookbook ‘Simple Pleasures II’ are earmarked for community support. When Scotty came to one of our meetings and spoke to us about raising money for the War Vets Museum, we were blown away. His presentation was amazing and he is a fabulous kid. We are thrilled to be able to support him and jump start his campaign and spearhead it and get other community groups involved with his cause,” said Marnie Murphy, Junior Women’s League of Canfield president.
“I give all the credit in the world to the Junior Women’s League of Canfield for taking a leap of faith to get this fundraising campaign jump started and helping to get others involved,” said Anne Crawford, Scotty’s mom.
Crawford has raised more than $13,000 to date and, at the start, was fairly confident he would be able to reach his goal.
“I was pretty confident I would be able to do it, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure. I am still going to try to get the other $5,000 and Home Depot in Austintown got my letter and said they will try to help me do that and they are going to work hard to offer services to improve the landscaping. I am also going to try and see if I can get somebody to donate the windows. I will write that letter soon.
“Sam Boak from Boak and Sons was very nice and told me that if I could raise the $18,000 then he would help me get the project done. He talked to my mom and there is a lot of work - way more than paint which was my first plan - that needs to be done at the Canfield War Vets to do the project right. I am hoping we will be able to get some more product donations or cash donations so the museum looks awesome,” Crawford said.
Crawford is proud of his community for stepping up to help the Canfield War Vets Museum, but was not totally surprised they supported his cause.
“I was a little surprised at how much support the community gave me, but not totally surprised. I have had a team in Boardman Relay for Life for two years, with last weekend being my third year, and I have had good support for that American Cancer Society event, too,” Crawford said.
Crawford said this project is a learning experience and stressed the importance of kids learning about veterans, which is the focus of the Canfield War Vets Museum.
“Veterans are important to everybody and when you have a project that is good for veterans and for kids to learn about veterans, people will support it. If you want money, write a letter and ask,” Crawford said.
Crawford is still collecting funds and welcomes anyone’s help with donations or services.
“I am still taking donations if anybody wants to donate. If you are a window company and you want to donate windows, you can call my mom, Anne, at 330-286-3882. If you want to donate money, you can deposit at Farmers National Bank into the Canfield War Vets Museum Building Fund,” Crawford said.
While Crawford’s original timetable of completing the work on the museum has been extended, he now has a new timetable.
“We were hoping to be done by Memorial Day this year, but there is extensive work to be done and now we are planning on being finished on or before Veteran’s Day,” Crawford said.
Canfield War Vets Museum is a 501(c)(3) under the Internal Revenue Code and is a publicly supported organization under section 509(a)(1).