VILLAGE OF KENMORE, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District is continuing a decades-old tradition to help the homeless, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
For 33 years, students, staff and their families have spent a night outside in refrigerator boxes during the winter for the annual Jerry Starr Ken-Ton Schools' SleepOut.
The event raises money for local organizations that help those in need.
But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has been scaled back for this year, so only a handful of people, Ken-Ton UFSD Superintendent Sabatino Cimato included, are participating.
"The fact of service to each other and the community is really a priority and should be a priority," Cimato said. "We can't lose that culture in Ken-Ton, even in this pandemic."
The organizers of this year's event told 7 Eyewitness News the money raised will all stay in Kenmore and the Town of Tonawanda.
"We have people here in the Village of Kenmore and the Town of Tonawanda that need a hand, and we want to give them a hand," said Jerry Starr Ken-Ton Schools' SleepOut organizer Stephen Ash.
All proceeds will benefit the Ken-Ton Closet and Family Support Center.
You can donate to help support them here.
