For 19 years, Pare Corporation has provided gifts to each child living with a Boys Town foster family during the holiday season.  This year, Boys Town New England honored Pare with the 2014 “Spirit of Youth” award.

On May 2nd, Pare was honored at Boys Town New England’s 2014 “Spirit of Youth Gala.”  The theme of the night, “Fly Away to Neverland,” recalled the magic of the Peter Pan story and highlighted the magic that takes place every day in this wonderful organization as it works with children and families.

One of the evening’s most magical moments involved the gala’s Youth and Family Speaker, Adam Charron, a former Boys Town New England foster child.  After Pare was presented with The Spirit of Youth Award, Adam took to the stage to share his experience as a former foster child and to express his gratitude to Boys Town New England.  Adam was among the first group of children to whom Pare provided gifts—almost two decades ago!  Knowing they would be reunited with Adam, Pare’s Deb Poulos and Mel Hebert, who initiated Pare’s gift-giving effort in 1996, tracked down and purchased the items from Adam’s original wish list and presented him with one more holiday surprise on stage.  Deb recalls,“there wasn’t a dry eye in the building.”

Pare representatives receive Spirit of Youth Award, presented by former Boys Town foster child, Adam Charron

Since 1996, Pare has provided holiday gifts for 531 children. Deb Poulos best summed up Pare’s commitment to Boys Town New England:

“I am so proud that everyone at Pare still shows as much enthusiasm as they did that first year. Sometimes we have seen names on the list that were there the year before, and we knew that child had not been reunited with his or her family or had not been adopted. We all took this to heart and always kept these children in our thoughts. It’s because of them, and children like them, that we continue to help Boys Town each Christmas.  We want them to experience joy on Christmas the way the rest of us do.  I couldn’t ask for a better group of co-workers.  They know how to come together and make things happen and get things done. We all have families of our own and the holiday season is so busy that it’s not always easy.  But this has become tradition for us. To us, this is our little Christmas miracle. We have bought gifts for 531 children. That’s 531 smiles and for us that will always be enough.”

Left to right: Pare’s Matt Bellisle, Sue Gravel, Collette Gagnon, and Mike Rongione

Left to Right: Pare’s April Lagace, Lauren Hastings, and Lindsey Machamer

Founded in 1917, Boys Town has been dedicated to providing abused, abandoned, and neglected children with a safe, supporting and caring environment where they can gain confidence and learn skills to succeed in life. The Boys Town Model of care is research-based and produces life-changing results for youth across the country.

Captain Hook also attended the Spirit of Youth Gala

If you are interested in contributing to this important organization, through a donation or as a volunteer, please visit the Boy’s Town New England webpage, and see how you can help.