Philipsburg teen sets out to make giving back an annual holiday tradition
With the holiday season in full swing, Preston Putillion and his dad, Jeffrey, aren’t splurging on material items.
Donating his time and money, Putillion — a ninth grader at Philipsburg-Osceola School District — used his earnings from shoveling snow and cutting grass to buy and donate 75 backpacks to the Moshannon Valley YMCA last month. The YMCA’s Backpack program has distributed over 30,000 meals and feed more than 1,000 Centre County kids by sending them home with a bag of food each Friday. With Putillion’s help, those numbers will grow.
“Whenever I was younger, I’d always ride my bike around, and sometimes, it was kind of sad honestly,” Putillion said. “I’d look around, and there would be kids without toys, houses falling apart, and kids wouldn’t be out playing. It just didn’t look like a good environment, and I think about that a lot.”
A Boy Scout and athlete, Putillion said his parents told him to save his money and give back to the community when he could. Putillion said he thought the donation would go a long way if he used his savings to purchase the bags.
“It was better than spending the money on a video game,” he said. “There are a lot of kids, even in my neighborhood, who I thought would be helped by the backpacks.”
Moshannon Valley YMCA Executive Director Mel Curtis said Putillion helped make a difference in the lives of “many kids in Centre County.”
Describing Putillion as “one neat kid,” P-O Superintendent Gregg Paladina said he has witnessed Putillion’s “kind” and “thoughtful acts.”
“This is one of many,” Paladina said. “He is very mature for his age.”
But Putillion’s generosity doesn’t stop there.
Putillion and his dad participated in the annual Polar Bear Plunge on Dec. 7 at Black Moshannon State Park. Two of 200 participants in this year’s fundraiser, the duo contributed to the more than $47,000 raised at the event. Putillion said he and his dad plan to make giving back an annual tradition.
“Every year, we’re going to do something to help the community out,” Putillion said. “I don’t know what we’ll do next year, but I’m looking forward to finding some way to give back.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 9:36 AM.
