Turkey, covered in gravy, bread baked just right, and cranberry sauce sweeter than candy is what a normal Thanksgiving dinner looks like to many people, but not for everyone. For some, Thanksgiving is insanely expensive. The price of a Thanksgiving meal with turkey, side dishes and pies, can be an impossible luxury when people are already struggling to put food on the table. This stress was amplified by the recent government shutdown, which affected people who have Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits. This is where the Springs School Thanksgiving food drive steps in to make it easier for those in need.
Each grade had a suggested item to donate: prekindergarten, pasta; kindergarten, mac and cheese; first grade, boxed cereal; second grade, baking mixes; third grade, stuffing; fourth grade, chicken or turkey stock; fifth grade, rice; sixth grade, canned soup; seventh grade, canned vegetables or beans, and eighth grade canned fruit or vegetables. Students in life skills classes donated apple sauce.
The food drive began on Nov. 5, and all donations were due by Friday. It was a truly inclusive effort for students.
“Thanksgiving is a great time to give to the community,” said Toby Mackey, a seventh-grade inclusion teacher who co-chairs the Springs Teacher Association Community Outreach Committee along with Therese Allam, one of the school’s social workers. Ms. Mackey explained this is the only food drive this year, so students made sure it counted. She has been part of the committee for about 16 years now. “Gosh, where does the time go?” she asked after she shared how long she has been involved. After she joined the committee, she started organizing food drives.
Students helped her collect donated food, then sorted it and organized the items so a Thanksgiving dinner could be cooked at home. More than enough items were collected for the 25 families who needed the extra support. Any leftover packaged goods went to the food pantry. Since Wednesdays are the days when families go to the food pantry, this happened just in time for Thanksgiving.
When asked if they have ever come up short with donations, Ms. Mackey said that the school has never come up short. Occasionally, when she walks through the hallways or peeks into classrooms, donation boxes seem empty at first, which concerns her, she said, but when she collects the food, boxes are filled to the top. “Springs School’s students and families always pull through,” she said.
By Alexa Salcedo, Grade 6, Springs Journalism Club