Area schools busy collecting mountains of food for SAC
Schools like Chestnut Ridge have gone all-out to raise both food and funds for Share-A-Christmas, creating ways to entice the kids and their parents to donate generously.
Every year many adults throughout Holmes County pour themselves into making sure families who are struggling financially receive a ray of sunshine through the giving and compassion of Holmes County Share-A-Christmas.
However, it isn’t just the adults who are making an impact. The kids have their own role in aiding the effort.
For the past many years, elementary schools and middle schools in Holmes County have played a role in collecting canned goods and nonperishable items like oatmeal, cereal, spaghetti sauce and other food items that are collected and packaged together to send to hundreds of families throughout the county.
For the families, the food might become a critical part of their meals over the coming weeks after delivery on Dec. 14.
For the young students, this serves as an introduction to the art of serving others in their communities, encouraging them to think of others while at the same time introducing them to the effort behind Share-A-Christmas.
At Chestnut Ridge School, secretary Darlene Yoder is the driving force behind the themes, contests and daily efforts to entice giving, whether it is as individuals or as a class.
Principal JT Luneborg is often at the receiving end of when goals are attained, such as having his office filled with boxes of cereal or having to sit in a makeshift jail for an entire day.
However, these ways to bring out the joy and excitement of giving have worked wonders, and Chestnut Ridge continues to be a force among the schools collecting goods.
“Darlene is just great at creating fun ways to make this exciting for the kids,” Luneborg said. “And this annual event is something that the kids have really gotten behind and embraced. They look forward to it because it’s fun and exciting, but also because they understand the value of giving to others. What’s been so successful has been that it pushes the idea this isn’t a school fundraiser but rather a way to help others in need, and it all stays right here in Holmes County.”
This year the school has gone with the theme “I Be-Leaf,” which includes a giant tree in the school lobby, with daily challenges and themes with encouragement to bring in specific food items like canned goods, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce or cereal.
Luneborg said it’s a “tree-mendous” opportunity for the kids to show they can be an integral part of reaching out to families in the community.
Chestnut Ridge isn’t alone in its efforts.
At Killbuck Elementary, the collection also has begun in earnest, and Principal Brian Lash said not only is it the students who get behind the effort, but also the entire community.
“It’s an exciting time for us here at school, and the kids love it because they can get involved with something meaningful,” Lash said. “Not only do the kids get involved, but we are working closely with the community and some of the local businesses to help provide some toys and gifts for families.”
He said local company Sperry & Rice has taken on a leading role in the latter half of the community’s effort with the school, and it has been wonderful to see so many people getting involved.
Lash said while giving to area families is the ultimate end game, one byproduct of the effort is his students gain experience in the arena of selfless service to community.
“This is such a vital thing for these kids to experience,” Lash said. “Our relationship with the community and what we are doing for the community as a community school is such a valuable lesson for our kids to learn. We’re helping them learn the importance of becoming productive citizens within their community, and this is such a great hands-on, real-world experience of what we are trying to do through education that extends beyond the classroom.”
While the students and schools work diligently to collect, SAC chairman Bob Porter and his crew will pick up the goods on one whirlwind tour around the area, and he said seeing the students throw themselves into this is something special, both for those who give and those who receive.