New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Oliver donates to Danbury teachers, but mum on deal
DANBURY — The city still hasn’t heard whether John Oliver has accepted the mayor’s terms to rename Danbury’s sewer plant after the comedian.
But Oliver, the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” has started to fulfill part of the deal.
Danbury teachers who had projects on Donors Chose — a crowdfunding site for educators — have had their requests fulfilled by the comedian, who started a back-andforth with the city last month when he said he would give its residents a “thrashing.”
“Hats off to you!” Oliver’s TV show wrote on the teachers’ donation pages. “Please enjoy this John Oliver memorial donation and good luck with the new school year!”
Oliver said he would donate
$55,000 to charities, including to city teachers, if the mayor fulfilled his joke to name the sewer plant after the “Last Week Tonight” host. The mayor said he would rename the plant only if Oliver comes to the ribbon cutting.
Among his donations was to fully cover the $685 a Danbury High School teacher requested for “Scholastic” magazines in Spanish.
“What an awesome surprise to learn that my project got funded right before the first day of online school,” Spanish teacher Ms. Clua wrote. “Your generosity will help me to provide my students with a wide array of articles written in Spanish, which will help improve their literacy skills. Furthermore, I am positive that my students will truly appreciate the opportunity to learn about varied aspects of the hispanic culture.”
Oliver also donated $368 for a Danbury High School teacher to purchase better lighting to improve his videos while students are on distance learning.
“Thank you for donating to our school and our community,” teacher Mr. Miller wrote. “We will remember you for more than your name sake, but for your generosity and dedication to helping others. This will benefit my students. We appreciate your kindness and will try to pay it forward in the future. You are great!”
Donations went to a high school English teacher for supplies and a math teacher to purchase an Apple iPad and Apple pencil to better engage students on distance learning, among various other projects.
In addition to $25,000 to Danbury teachers, Oliver also promised
$25,000 to the Connecticut Food Bank and $5,000 to ALS Connecticut.
ALS Connecticut has not received a check from Oliver yet, said Sandy Tripodi, executive director. But the organization has collected donations from people all over the world since the Danbury Hat Tricks promoted the chapter in its response to Oliver.
“These kinds of donations make a great deal of difference to the people we serve and the services we continue to provide people living with ALS,” Tripodi said.
The Connecticut Food Bank did not return requests for comment.
Mayor Mark Boughton said he has not heard from Oliver, but he did not expect to until the show comes back from hiatus on Sept. 27.
Boughton anticipates the plant could draw people to the city.
“We’re going to get a lot of tourism dollars out of this thing,” he said on Facebook Live Wednesday. “A smart person might want to open up a snack bar or a restaurant next to the John Oliver sewer plant.”
Tripodi said Oliver’s donation would help ALS Connecticut a lot, too.
“We are very boots-on-the-ground working with people and their families living with ALS to provide concrete service, from ramps to power chairs, everything they need,” she said. “That $5,000 goes a long way locally.”