By Amanda Meloy
Lindbergh Elementary School
Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Unfortunately, many families don’t have enough to eat during the holidays. The Lindbergh Elementary community helped by partnering with the Goodman Community Center, which brings over 3,500 Thanksgiving meals to families every year. In fact, some of the families who benefit from this food drive live right here in our Northside neighborhood.
Lindbergh students, families, staff, community members and partners collected non-perishable food items. Fifth graders got involved by creating signs and flyers to advertise the campaign to collect coins and non-perishable food items, as well as advertise a bake sale. They went to classrooms to collect donations. They also volunteered their time at a bake sale booth. All proceeds were delivered to the Goodman Center.
Lindbergh’s school goal was to collect 700 non-perishable food items/dollars ($1 = one non-perishable food item). Students even created a thermometer to track their progress.
We called the campaign “Thanksgiving Baskets and Books” because donations not only provided Thanksgiving meals, but also provided books for the library. The goal was 700 items/dollars because $700 is the amount of Lindbergh’s general lost book fines. The librarian was able to delete $1 from the fines for each item/dollar raised. In addition, the Lindbergh School Endowment Fund will match $1 for each item/dollar raised up to $500. Money from the endowment fund will be used to purchase new books for the school library. With the influx of new titles, interest in reading will increase as students are excited to be in the library to find new books that peak their interests and let them discover other cultures across the globe.
Thank you to fifth-grade students Justin, Kenny, Monse, Gianna, Isaac, Emma, Cassie, Cassandra, Gianna, Aiden, Lars, Elena, Damarion, Sorimar, Jetrin and Savannah; fourth-grade students (advertising on morning announcements) Ka’nia, Lauriana, Ibrahim and Evan; all Lindbergh staff, Principal Lindsay Maglio, Ben Langer, Quinn Marx, Mandy Meloy, Clara Elena Salinas, Que Vang and Pam Vitale; and our community partners Catholic Charities, TASC and Kennedy Heights Community Center.