KINGSTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A charity group is working to collect essentials for the more than 100 people who appeared at a hotel in Kingston nearly two weeks ago.
After 107 migrants, including some 20 children, were dropped off by the state at the Baymont Hotel, one local charity became a major waypoint for community members stepping up to help.
The Plymouth Area Coalition for the Homeless has been collecting laundry detergent, warm clothes, diapers and other essentials that families at the hotel might need.
“Once that it did get out that there was an increased number of families in the community that were homeless, people started to say ‘Oh, well, they must need things!'” said Sue Giovanetti, CEO of the Plymouth Area Coalition for the Homeless. “And our challenge now is to get a handle on all of the donations and really figure out what do we have? Where are the gaps?”
The charity, which has been sheltering families since 1985, said donations have only increased since a recent incident involving a group that gathered at the hotel, spewing messages of hate. Police said the group held signs and expressed anti-refugee beliefs through a loudspeaker at the protest over the past weekend, wearing matching clothing and masks.
“It was jarring – you see protests and you know that things can, you know, happen and get out of hand but this was something totally different,” said Michelle Koppang, a Plymouth Area Coalition board member.
“While we certainly have been disheartened by all of the negativity that very small groups of people have voiced, we have witnessed nothing but an overabundance of good will and just people stepping up,” Giovanetti said.
Community members have been offering to do whatever they can, including translation services for the migrants.
Kingston Town Administrator Keith Hickey has said his community is doing its best to assist the families in need, but would like more help from the state and federal government.
As the migrants were initially settling at the hotel, Hickey said he was informed by state officials that those at the hotel may be there until January, but that he was not entirely sure how firm that date was.
More information on the Plymouth Area Coalition can be found here.
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