Ice cream for everyone

LYNN – City Hall employees were treated to a very special delivery Thursday when children from the Curwin Circle Youth Program went office to office and desk to desk with ice cream.According to Cathy Rowe, who is the Youth Services Coordinator for Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development and oversees the youth group, the ice cream treat is payback for some extraordinary annual outreach by the City Clerk’s office and City Hall employees.”Everyone in City Hall donates back to school supplies,” Rowe said. “This is our way of saying thank you.”The Clerk’s office ran its 6th annual school supply drive the Curwin Circle Youth Program and with everyone’s help came up with enough supplies for 52 children, Rowe said.”Kids went home with backpacks filled with all the essentials for school,” she said.Tuesday the young students went to pick up the supplies, that included stacks of notebooks, boxes of crayons and markers, pencils and rulers and other items, and to meet with employees.Then Thursday the students came back with their thank yous in the form of boxes of Strawberry Shortcake ice creams, Italian Ice, Fudgesicles, Bomb Pops, Popsicles and more.Stopping by the Mayor’s office Yuleidy Ortez, who will start second grade at the Callahan School this week, said she can’t wait to head back to school.”I am excited,” she said.Kaliegh Bullock is also excited to start second grade at the Lynn Woods School but Maria Peguero, a seventh-grader at Breed, looked a little skeptical when asked if she was looking forward to heading back to school. She said she would be glad to see her friends but was not sure about the rest.Ready or not students started back at their desks Tuesday.”The kids were excited to pick out their new backpacks and get everything ready for the first day of school (this) week,” Rowe said. “We are so thankful for the kind people at City Hall to donate all this great stuff each year.”