The Spot

Volunteers meet the needs of local children

When you enter The Spot, you’ll find a row of winter coats and backpacks along with shelves of brandnew sneakers, snow boots, and water bottles. You’ll find food, personal hygiene products, and clothing items at any of The Spot’s locations. A team of volunteers fills requests and keeps the spaces stocked, serving more than 2,500 local students year-round. Executive director Sarah Chilson says, “Everybody can do something. The Spot gives people a quick and easy way to do something.”

After starting a family, she wondered how she could use what few hours she had to spare during the day to help others. “I wanted to do something with a purpose. I had to make my own meaningful opportunity,” Chilson remembers.

She contacted her son’s school to ask what needs she could meet and was told that the nurse’s office could always use socks and underwear. This led to an Amazon wish list which resulted in two truckloads of items being delivered to the school.

A school social worker brought Chilson in to look at a closet, asking her how she felt about a full-time project and giving her the idea to raise funds for school supplies. Sarah came up with a name and a logo, and that “project” has turned into a space called The Spot at every school building from PreK to twelfth grade in Canandaigua.

With the help of many volunteers, she started a back-to-school event to provide school supplies for children in her district. They were able to help 120 children that year. Next summer will mark the seventh annual back-to-school event in Canandaigua.

Children in the older grades know they can go in and get what they need, whether it’s toothpaste, menstrual hygiene products, or new shoes. Younger kids are identified by teachers and social workers. Anyone can submit a request online. With the high cost of groceries and the elimination of free school lunches for millions of children, many local families are struggling.

When Principal Heidi Robb left Canandaigua to accept a position in the Victor district, she wanted to bring The Spot with her. She paired Chilson up with Jessica Balduzzi, an active member of the Victor PTSA who was looking for a way to give back to the schools. Heidi shares, “I’ve had the unique privilege of seeing firsthand the impact The Spot has on students in Canandaigua and Victor. The generosity of our communities coupled with the incredible work of volunteers led by Sarah and Jessica, allow all students in Victor and Canandaigua Schools to have their basic needs met.”

Balduzzi says, “These are our neighbors. My kids’ teammates. It hits close to home.” She has implemented The Spot at every PreK through sixth grade building in Victor and is actively working on creating a space at the junior and senior high school. “The Spot’s expansion to Victor helps create an environment where every child has what they need to succeed in school, and in turn, benefits our entire community.” Balduzzi goes on to say she would not have been able to do it without local volunteers who were quick to jump right in.

Emily Philips, a Canandaigua music teacher, talks about how Chilson and her team built up a giant collection of concert clothes for kids. “They have dresses, pants, skirts, button-down shirts, ties, shoes, you name it. Boxes and boxes. We would give them a list of our concert dates, and a team of Spot volunteers would help all the kids who didn’t have concert clothes find something they liked. It was amazing to watch. Kids were walking out with huge smiles on their faces, because they looked fantastic—and they knew it. It’s such a little thing, but it’s the perfect example of the true depth of her program. Sarah is someone who sweats the details in the best possible way. When she says she wants every child to have what they need to succeed, she means it!”

The Spot now has a board of directors and is a full nonprofit organization. Chilson’s focus is on the mental health of her volunteers. She emphasizes that family comes first and encourages her team to set hours (two times a week or month), and she gives them tasks that will fit that time frame. Volunteers might come in once a year to help with the back-to-school event or once a month to stock shelves in the school spaces. Chilson says, “We always need people to help spread the word. That is a huge gift. Not everyone can donate their time, but they could be sharing with someone who could help in a bigger way.”

The Spot relies on recurring payments from individual donors as well as local businesses. Sarah is also actively looking for other opportunities such as grants. The greatest need is financial support as the program needs to raise upwards of $60,000 this year to fund program needs for children in crisis situations.

Chilson would love to see The Spot expand to all local school districts and has the resources to train anyone interested in stepping up to the plate to run a leadership team in their district. She says, “Watching the news can be difficult. It’s hard to know what you can do to improve things. With The Spot, it is an easy way to make a difference locally right away.”

Want to donate or join the team? Visit thespotny.org.