WILSON — A simple call to action from a village resident led to an organized effort to help deter acts of vandalism.

Restrooms at Wilson Pier were recently upgraded thanks to a donation from the Austin Wilson Memorial.

Unfortunately, shortly after the grand opening in August, the building and surrounding areas were vandalized: the bathroom soap dispenser was damaged, the toilet paper holder was stolen, and plastic bags were used. to clean up after animals have been removed from their containers and thrown on the ground. .

After seeing a series of Facebook posts about it, Carly Butler intervened.

“The fact that you’re doing this, and it had just been consecrated. All the money came from a family that had lost their son, so they did it in memory of him and it was just horrible,” Butler said. “Not only did I feel horrible for the family. I have children myself, so I can’t even imagine going through the grief of losing a child, let alone doing something in memory of them (and then it gets vandalized).

She began fundraising for a new security camera on the pier to deter further vandalism.

This call to action began when Butler and her husband Joe simply asked her neighbors and those on social media for at least a dollar.

Last month, Butler presented a $285 check to village board members to cover the cost of the new camera.

“I told (Village Administrator Greg Martin) that when I dropped him off. I said, ‘You know, it’s not a lot of money, but I think it’s the effort and the love behind it,'” she said.

Martin added, “It was a grassroots effort on Facebook led by an individual who said, ‘Hey, I’m going to raise some money,’ and it really, really turned out to be helpful because the budget where we would have withdrawn this money was already spent. , so it was really a welcome donation,”

Following Butler’s delivery, additional donation efforts were made by local residents, community members and the Niagara County Legislature.

The new total brings the donation effort to cover about $2,000 of the $2,800 the new camera will cost.

Throughout the process, Butler said she learned a lot about the generosity of her community.

“I had people I had never met. Wilson isn’t that big of a place, but it actually expanded the number of people I knew. People came to my door. People were asking me for my Venmo, people recognized me in the store…and it surprised me for a minute,” Butler said.