Former Sentinel carrier gives back to his community

Quinn Miller, a Lewiston-Porter sophomore, donates to Care-n-Share

By Madeline Dorobiala

A Lewiston-Porter High School sophomore continues to make an impact on his community.

Quinn Miller started collecting cans and bottles when he was 9 years old. As a Niagara County Tribune-Sentinel carrier, he would ask clients every week to leave cans and bottles outside of their homes for him to collect. It took him a year to gather the funds to donate his first check to Care-n-Share, a River Region nonprofit organization supported by Inter-Community Services.

Two people motivated Quinn on his donation journey: his mother, Meg; and Angelo Sarkees.

Quinn learned about his great grandma’s soup and had the idea that his mother could teach others how to make it at the food kitchen. From there, his mother introduced him to the concept of food deserts.

“I dropped a can of food on the floor and it kind of popped in my head,” Quinn said. “ ‘You said you turn these in for money. What if we gave that money to people who need it?’ ”

Sarkees was someone Quinn and his mother would see when they would deposit their cans and bottles. Known as “The Can Man,” Sarkees took the money he collected and donated to places such as Care-n-Share and Community Missions. The late Sarkees founded Deposits For Food, through which he raised over $100,000 for local nonprofits.

“He always joked that you (Quinn) were gonna take his place when he retired,” Meg Miller said.

Quinn collected items and made donations to families during the COVID-19 pandemic. He provided 400 personal care items to Care-n-Share. Moreover, Quinn’s grandmother crocheted bags and gave them to him.

“She made us these bags and said, ‘Go take these; go make some money; sell them; you said you’ve got these fests coming up – do something with them,’ ” Quinn said.

Rachel Jolbert, who owns and operates the Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market, gave Quinn a table to sell the bags his grandmother made. Jolbert also promoted the bags on her social media to spark interest. Quinn and his mother called them “Shop-n-Share” bags and donated the money they made from those bags to Care-n-Share.

Serving the community since 2010, Care-n-Share offers multiple outreach programs: a food pantry that collects nonperishables and toiletries and in Ransomville; Wear-n-Share, a clothes closet located at the Lewiston-Porter Central School District office; and on the third Saturday of every month, Care-n-Share hosts a mobile food pantry. It also has a partnership with FeedMore WNY.

Quinn recently presented Care-n-Share’s Rhonda Shiah with a check. She expressed her gratitude for donors like Quinn, who have consistently shown their support for the community.

Quinn, who also works with Lewiston Redemption, plans on raising even more donation funds.

“When word spreads, people will be inspired,” he said. “I’m excited.”

Quinn Miller holds a Niagara County Tribune/Sentinel 2020 article that ran about his fundraising efforts.