NORWICH — Suzanne Stofflet is taking it easy, but outside, to benefit the Upper Valley Haven this holiday season.
The 74-year-old Norwich resident is lying in her outdoor hammock — regardless of rain, shine, snow or sleet — for 15 minutes a day until Jan. 20 to benefit the Haven, which provides shelter and other services for people who are homeless and also runs a food pantry.
Stofflet, who usually takes her hammock down in late October, decided to leave it up this year and continue to use it. She joked with a friend that she would sit in her hammock every day for a month; she then thought of Dan Fraser, who co-owns Dan and Whit’s general store in Norwich and frequently spearheads community fundraising efforts for various organizations.
In 2013, Fraser created 19 Days of the Valley (previously known as 19 Days of Norwich), during which local businesses come together to donate a certain percentage of their sales to the Haven. This year, the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation will match up to $200,000 in funds raised.
Over her 50-day personal challenge, Stofflet hopes to bring some amusement to the task of fundraising.
“I wonder if people would pay to watch me suffer,” Stofflet said. All funds raised will directly benefit the Haven.
“It’s been pretty much effortless,” Stofflet said Friday, three days into the venture. “The time just flies by.”
Anticipating the weather to grow harsher in the coming weeks, Stofflet plans to enlist the help of her winter-rated down sleeping bag when she takes to the hammock.
Her long-haired cat, Buddy, joined her in the hammock, which is now adorned with Christmas bows, on Thursday, as he seems to be doing so far.
Laura Gillespie, the Haven’s director of development and communications, notes that 19 Days of the Valley is an initiative that supports the Haven as well as local businesses. It’s “a way to encourage people to keep their holiday shopping dollars local,” she said.
Funds raised through 19 Days directly benefit the Haven’s mission to help those in need. “Anyone can come here if they have a situation they’re struggling with,” Gillespie said.
Donations are often used to help with the food shelf or to service coordination, such as offering educational support to families that come in.
“Suzanne is a very special friend of the Haven,” Gillespie added. “We are grateful for her creative support.”
Stofflet was a former interim director at the Haven, as well as an active volunteer for nearly 40 years, the entirety of the organization’s existence. Over the years, she recognized that a central element to the Haven’s success is their respect for those that they serve.
“There is no agenda other than helping people find better lives,” Stofflet said.
So far, in just a few days, Stofflet has raised nearly $2,000. She is encouraging community members to support her through either donations or pledges, such as a dollar per day she spends in the hammock.
“At least one person has come forward and asked me to sing to them from the hammock on their birthday,” Stofflet said, noting that she will happily offer such incentives to donors.
Anyone wanting to donate to her effort can go to the Haven’s website, https://uppervalleyhaven.org/events/19days/onlinegiving/, or drop off a check for the Haven at Dan & Whit’s, with “Hammock Challenge” in the memo line.