SAUGUS — WIN Waste Innovations and the town’s recently formed Boys & Girls Club collaborated to put together a back-to-school celebration at the location of the old Douglas Waybright Elementary School.
The event featured many fun activities for children to enjoy, including a bounce house and an inflatable corn maze, along with music-making equipment and a Nintendo Switch to game on — both activities offered at the newly opened Boys & Girls Club Teen Center at the Square One Mall. Pizza from Nick’s Pizza and school supplies were also present at the event.
“I adore all of them, they’re just such great people,” School Committee member Stephanie Mastrocola, who helped organize the event, said of the Boys & Girls Club’s members.
Mastrocola said that the event was a group effort between WIN Waste Innovations and the Boys & Girls Club, adding that she felt it was a great way for the club to introduce itself to the community.
“Sometimes, people don’t head over to that mall a lot,” Mastrocola said.
Mastracola hopes to hold another event. She said her philosophy is to “go big or go home,” and that if it was permitted, she would have held a carnival.
“The kids of Saugus deserve this,” Mastrocola said.
Boys & Girls Club Director of Development Anthony Guardia said that he was very excited about the event.
“To come to a community and within like the first week, have one of the biggest businesses in town say, ‘Hey, we want to partner with you at one of the school sites to introduce you to the community,’ it’s wonderful. You couldn’t really ask for more,” Guardia said.
“The system really works the best when guidance counselors, school psychologists, police, fire, our staff, YMCA staff, and the recreational department staff are all talking to each other, to make sure that no child fall through the cracks,” Guardia added. “These events build those relationships.”
WIN Waste Senior Director of Communications and Community Engagement Mary Urban said that the company often does school-related activities, but has never hosted a back-to-school event like this one before. She said that the Boys & Girls Club is an “incredible organization,” which WIN is glad to support however it is able to.
Urban said that WIN helped provide school supplies such as notebooks and backpacks, which were snapped up off the table more quickly than anticipated, in addition to the inflatable corn maze and bounce house.
“We didn’t want to just make it a community outing, but also so that (they) can get some supplies,” Urban said.
Urban said that WIN is looking forward to working with the Boys & Girls Club more in the future.
