Pasta with Purpose

There used to be a Prince Spaghetti television commercial with a young man racing home through the crowded streets of Boston’s North End on a Wednesday evening in answer to his mom’s dinner call. Do you remember it? How about the little guy’s name? Anthony. Good. Hold that thought. I’ll come back to it in a moment.

   

In an age of nearly instant world-wide connectivity, defining the word community becomes a little more nuanced than it may have been ‘back in the day.’ Not that long ago we had, or were ourselves, neighbors who had lawn signs supporting all manner of causes and programs but now, as times and technologies have changed we “like” posts on social media in support of/or in opposition to our positions or join online groups who feel the same way as we do.

These days, it happens with the click of a mouse sometimes faster than the speed of thought. I often struggle to strike a balance between FBF, Facebook Friends, and F&BF, Flesh and Blood Friends because many of us spend so much time alone together in an environment we’ve created having ALL CAPS arguments with online strangers that we lose sight of important moments happening here and now right in our own neighborhoods. Sort of like looking out a window on Prince Street and not seeing Anthony.   

I mention all of this because of an opportunity I came across, where else, online that we could use to support our Norwich Public Schools, their students, who are our children, and their teachers who are often our neighbors and friends.

I remember when our children were NPS students and there were car washes, basket bashes, and other fund-raising activities we as parents were engaged in to help provide classroom extras. More recently, the Norwich Public Schools (NPS) Education Foundation has contributed more than fifty-five thousand dollars to support classroom activities. 

And not a penny has gone to waste as budgets across all city departments have tightened and our schools have struggled NOT to do more with less but to just continue to offer what they have. We all say education is important and our children are the future of our city but when it comes to putting our money where our mouth is, well, a lot of us are silent.

How about this coming Monday, from 4-6 PM, we put our money where our dinner plates are, and help our schools and our kids, even the ones not named Anthony?

The Norwich Public Schools (NPS) Education Foundation is partnering with Billy Wilson's, at 57 Broadway, for Spaghetti and Meatball Dinners at $10 a person, eat in or take out (or both I suppose if you’ve skipped lunch and breakfast) with all proceeds going to the NPS Education Foundation.

Get your tickets by calling 860-367-1812, visiting the Norwich Public Schools Central Office at 90 Town Street, or emailing npseducationfoundation@gmail.com.

Think of it as pasta with a purpose. A great meal for a good cause  

-bill kenny