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Westwood's annual Holiday Harvest netted 993
food and personal hygiene items to distribute locally to our
friends in need. Each day this week, students brought in cans,
boxes, and bags to set on the Donation Station table. Daily,
the table was emptied and the items counted and boxed, but again
the next day, the table was filled. Students brought in donations
as they were able, and whether it was one item or many, the pride
on their faces and joy in their hearts was the same, confirming
that giving truly is a gift to both the giver and the recipient!
Students from Ms. Defibaugh's and Mrs. Ellisor's
class started in October to prepare for their harvest. They participated
in the annual Penny Power unit during which they bring their
spare pennies to be sorted by decade, counted, graphed, and weighed.
They then send volunteers from the class to do the shopping.
Ms. Defibaugh's students contributed approximately 5800 pennies
and students from Mrs. Ellisor's class collected 6328 of the
little coins. Just how much does that many pennies weigh? Just
over 38 pounds!
The Penny Power project serves as a rich metaphor
for the way in which our service projects seem to work - one
small penny by itself doesn't have much power just as one can
doesn't feed many people, but when we all bring our pennies or
we all bring a food or personal hygiene item, big things can
happen! A huge thank you to everyone who participated in this
year's generous outpouring and to Mrs. Lori Kuklinski for transporting
our donations to Christian Helping Hands. May your holidays be
as richly blessed and bountiful.
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