By Amanda Meloy
Lindbergh Elementary School

Thanksgiving was 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 brought over 3,500 Thanksgiving meals to families this year. In fact, some of the families who benefited from this food drive live right here in our Northside neighborhood.

During October and November, Lindbergh students, families, staff and community members collected non-perishable food items. Fifth graders created signs and flyers to advertise the collection of coins and non-perishable food items, as well as a bake sale. They went to classrooms weekly to collect donations for “Thanksgiving Baskets and Books.” They volunteered their time at a bake sale, which raised $205. 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 created videos on why they give back to their community and made 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 matched $1 for each item/dollar raised up to $522. Money from the endowment fund will be used to purchase new books for the school library.

Thank you to fifth–grade students Raul, Aniyah, Markylah, James, Lauriana, Alison, Davon, Ibrahim, Alannah, Ethan, Hailey, Ka’Nia, Sarah, Jada, Jaden, Samantha, Madayln, Andy, Thian, Terrance, Genesis, Ashley, Andrew, Elizabeth and Freedom.

Thank you to fourth-grade students Cynthia, Jacquelyn, Natalia, Ian, Kamaria, Sammy, Makayla, Gianna, Ava, Phoebe and Ta’Niyah, who helped by advertising on morning announcements.

Thank you to all Lindbergh staff, Principal Lindsay Maglio, Beth Callies, Alex Marx, Quinn Marx, Mandy Meloy, Clara Elena Salinas and Que Vang.

Thank you to our community partners Catholic Charities, TASC, Kennedy Heights Community Center, Lakeview Public Library and Lindbergh PTA.