Ilion High School - Class of 1972

Herkimer Evening Telegram - October 27, 1972

$700 Boost For Kim From HHS

Article 18

$700 Boost For Kim From HHS

The Kim Torbitt Fund received a big boost yesterday when students from the Herkimer High School turned over a $700 check to the Rev. Patrick Mangan. co-chairman of the drive.

Torbitt, a former standout athlete at Ilion High School, was injured in a two-car accident in Ilion on Sept. 8, and is hospitalized in Utica with a severed spine and paralysis from the neck down.

The $700 contribution put the total amount at $9,350 - only $650 short of the $10,000 goal the fund-raising group had set.

The money will be used to help in paying some of the medical expenses which have been mounting.

Once the fund-raising effort began in Ilion, Herkimer students joined in helping to raise money for the fund.

Yesterday's contribution of $700 was the result of their hard work, and the students say they expect at least another $300, which will put Herkimer High’s total over $1,000.

"What has been done here in Herkimer points out the close relationship between students and the schools", said a grateful Father Mangan.

Mangan said that several other donations have been received recently including $400 from Ilion High Homecoming, $100 from the Mohawk Odd Fellows, $15 from the Ilion Methodist Church, $10 from the Ilion Marigold Triangle, along with donations and letters from Camden, N.J., Rensselaer, Albany, Schenectady, Frankfort and Cold Brook.

Fund raising will continue today and Saturday with a Tag Day in Frankfort.