Students Help the Community as Part of Thanksgiving Food Drive
The Thanksgiving season often inspires generosity as people reflect on all that they’re grateful for. Ahead of Thanksgiving Day, students who attend the Children’s Education Center had the opportunity to help sort food that would be donated to 50 families in the community.
Boxes of stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn bread, bags of marshmallows, cans of corn, yams, green beans, cranberry, gravy and dessert items were piled up on a table inside the Brookville Mansion ballroom. With all the food that was donated, Volunteer Coordinator Jerri Walker needed help sorting them into categories. On tables in the ballroom, Jerri posted signs with food categories so students would know where to put each item.
The volunteers are members of the Transition class, designed for students ages 14 to 21 to work on job-ready skills and essential life skills like shopping, cooking, and cleaning.
Once the students arrived, they were drawn to the sheer amount of food that was on the table, asking Jerri where it would go. Jerri explained to the students that the food will be donated to families who need help putting a Thanksgiving meal on the table.
The food was donated by AHRC Nassau Day Service sites, Brookville Center for Children’s Services’ schools, and program offices. Cash was also donated, so that families benefiting would receive gift cards to purchase food to complete their Thanksgiving meal. Children and adults supported made this initiative possible by bringing the donated food to Brookville, sorting the food and delivering the completed baskets to families.
Sorting the food was also an opportunity for the students to work on skills that they’re learning in class, such as matching, reading, and vocational skills like stocking. And if a student did not know where to put a box or can, they were able to ask Jerri or their teacher where it needed to go.
“It’s a great sorting activity,” said Children’s Education Center Teacher Jennifer Mattera. “The visuals were a great help, like the labels on the tables. It helped them pick up on it more easily.”
Additionally, sorting the food was an opportunity to take part in a wider-community initiative.
“This is something we work on in the classroom,” Jennifer said. “We go food shopping. We make our list. Then, we come back and cook. This ties in to all the transition activities that we work on.”