HAMPDEN — The Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens’ lottery calendar fundraiser has commenced for 2025, working with local businesses and residents to raise funds for the Hampden Senior Center Building Expansion Fund.
Calendar sales officially opened on Nov. 1 and will continue to Dec. 31 with calendars available for $10 each, Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens President Claudia Kapinos told Reminder Publishing. This is the third year that the organization has hosted this fundraiser, due to its popularity and profitability.
In hosting the fundraiser during the end of the year, calendars can be purchased as gifts for friends, family and other community members during the holiday season, Kapinos explained, highlighting that the calendars could be used as stocking stuffers.
The lottery calendar fundraiser offers Hampden Senior Center supporters 31 chances to win cash or a gift card to a local business over the course of January 2025. When purchasing a calendar, supporters will enter their name into each of these raffles. Raffle prizes were gifted to the Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens by 20-25 local organizations and sponsors, Kapinos explained.
Raffle prizes include cash prizes of $25, $50 and $100 as well as gift cards to businesses such as Big Y World Class Market, Ferrindino Maple, Hampden Beauty Nails, Kinderhook Flowers and Gifts, and Lou’s Bagel Nook, the organization stated. Supporters have the opportunity to win a prize each day and are able to win multiple times during the month.
Funds from the fundraiser will go toward the Hampden Senior Center Building Expansion Fund, which directly supports the center, Kapinos stated. She noted that this fundraiser was not related to the expansion project that is currently seeking Town Meeting approval, but rather part of an ongoing fundraising campaign since the earliest days of the center.
The Hampden Senior Center hosts multiple events and services for senior and non-senior residents of Hampden and surrounding towns each month. Available services include a memory café, available transportation, daytime and evening activities, medical support services, support groups, the town’s emergency food pantry, travel groups, veterans services, and weekly meals, according to the center.
“We raise money all the time,” Kapinos said of the Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens organization. “We will always fundraise toward expansion.” She emphasized that the Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens have been raising funds for expansion since before the center moved to its current location at 104 Allen St. Prior to its establishment in this building, the senior center lived in the Melville Room in the basement of the Town Hall.
Kapinos highlighted the generosity of local sponsors and volunteers in helping to raise funds for the organization and for the Hampden Senior Center, stating that the organization “wouldn’t be where we are today” without their help and donated time.
Anyone interested in volunteering for the Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens should contact Hampden Senior Center Volunteer Coordinator Tina Doran at 413-566-5588 or scribe@hampdenma.gov.
Lottery calendars can be purchased and picked up in-person at the Senior Center or by mail through the flyer in the November edition of the Scantic Scribe. Additional information about the raffle prizes and participating sponsors is also listed in the Scantic Scribe newsletter.
