SAXTONS RIVER — The children at the Village Early Learning Center (VELC) will be breathing cleaner air thanks to the yearly holiday collection of a local family.
VELC is this year's beneficiary of the Williams family's annual Christmastime collection, “because with Covid, it's important to help the kids,” according to Christine Williams.
Williams spoke on behalf of the family headed by matriarch Mildred “Milly” Williams of Bellows Falls, who raised her seven children in Saxtons River and provided child care for many more.
The family contribution allowed the center to purchase four air filters to place among its rooms in the former Christ's Church building, now a community facility known as 24 Main.
The Williams family numbers 60 to 70, most still living locally, who gather each year and make a donation to a local nonprofit in honor of their late patriarch, Charles. Suggestions for the recipient are made, and then a committee presents the final choices for a vote.
“We have been struggling with all the issues around COVID-19, and having the filters is one more step in keeping our kids safe,” VELC Director Lori Rooney said in a news release.