By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER –A standing tradition continued this holiday season as Steve and Sue Colonel and patrons of the various Chester School District No. 139 Christmas programs chipped in to raise a total of $2,232.55 for the local Chester Area Christian Food Pantry.
Sue Colonel, Chester Grade School Band Director, Bob Koenigstein, CACFP Director, and Steve Colonel, Chester High School Band Director, pose for a photo at the Chester Area Christian Food Pantry. The Colonels made a monetary donation to the CACFP from money collected at the 2021 District # 139 Christmas Concerts held by the Chester Grade School programs, the Chester High School program and at the Colonel’s house as people drove by to enjoy their beautiful Christmas light display. This year all three events raised a total of $2, 232.55 for the CACFP. Jim Beers Photo
Steve Colonel said, “Years ago we asked patrons of our various Christmas Programs to bring canned goods to the concerts as a sort of admission to the events. After all of the annual Christmas programs were finished, we hauled all of the boxes of canned goods to the local food pantry to help with feeding those in need.”
“Over the years, Bob Koenegstein, Director of the local Chester Area Christian Food Pantry, noted that monetary donations were actually very useful because it allowed the pantry to purchase items that were in great demand at the time.”
Colonel then began “passing the hat”, so-to-speak, at concerts to help generate monetary funds to assist the pantry to purchase food items that are needed to fill holiday meal bags for clients.
Koenegstein said, “We really appreciate anything that is donated to the pantry. Many times, however, we have a ton of certain similar food items and not enough of other much-needed items to allow us to function with a variety of needed food items.”
“When we get monetary donations, it allows us to purchase items we need and to offer our clientele a wider range of items to help round out their nutritional needs. Canned goods are always appreciated, however, monetary donations really allow us to better serve clients.”
Mr. and Mrs. Colonel have been hosting food drives at their Christmas concerts for many years. Sue Colonel is the Band Director and General Music Teacher at Chester Grade School while Steve Colonel is the Band and Vocal Music Director at Chester High School, as well as the Vocal Music Director at Chester Grade School.
Having patrons of the Christmas concerts at both schools bring canned food donations was a great way of collecting canned goods for the CACFP for many years, however, there was a lot of work involved for both the Colonel’s and the food pantry in collecting, sorting, boxing and transporting all of the hundreds of items each year.
There was also the added hassle for patrons that had to bag and haul those items to the concerts each year. The Colonels further have enough “after-concert” duties the way it is, such as clearing the gym floor, getting chairs and musical instruments back in the band room and putting other concert-related items away at the conclusion of each concert. Having to deal with canned goods was another major task at the end of a concert.
Several years ago the Colonel’s began asking for monetary donations during concert intermissions instead of asking for tangible food items.
This year Mr. Colonel announced at his high school concert that the food pantry can purchase twice or three times more food items with a dollar donation via their purchasing connections, than donors can purchase by going to a grocery store.
“Not only can Mr. Koenegstein purchase more items for each dollar donated, he can also be sure to purchase the food items that are currently needed at the pantry, so it is a win-win situation when we have a “pass-the-hat” at our concerts instead of asking for canned food items.”
Last year when holiday concerts had to be cancelled due to Covid restrictions, the Colonel’s made up for the loss of donations at their school concerts by asking potential donors to drive by their house in Chester to enjoy seeing the huge Christmas light display that covers the entire front and side lawns at their house.
The Colonels have recently earned the reputation for having one of the biggest and best Christmas light displays in the area and people have been known to drive from miles around to see his beautiful lights and Christmas scenes.
Last year on certain nights, he and his family sat down by the road in front of their house and enjoyed greeting passers-by as they enjoyed experiencing the light display. He likewise offered guests the opportunity to make monetary donations for the local food pantry.
The result was a collection of more than $2,000 which was quickly donated to the Chester Area Christian Food Pantry.
This year, with concerts back in operation, the Colonels took donations at both the Grade School and High School Christmas Concerts as well as in front of his house for drive-by viewings of his enormous light display.
The results were fantastic as the Chester Grade School concerts raised $713.55. The Chester High School concerts raised $718.00. The drive by donations at the Colonel residence raised $801.00 for a grand total of $2, 232.55.
The Chester Area Christian Food Pantry was extremely grateful for the very generous donation made possible by the various patrons to the CGS and CHS Christmas Concerts as well as those who made drive-by donations at the Colonel household to view the light display.
Colonel has already started collecting new items to expand his 2022 Christmas light display and promises that it will be even “bigger-and-better” than this year. Hopefully school Christmas concerts will also be back again next year, so the CACFP can look forward to another much-appreciated donation in 2022.