C.A.R.E.S. Crews Collect Books and Canned Food
Throughout the month of November, Westchester Country Day School students held a canned food and book drive to support schools and non-profit organizations in the community. This service project is part of the school's annual C.A.R.E.S. Crews Give Thanks project.
In total, the school collected 1,091 canned food items weighing 1,025 pounds for Camp Out for Hunger. The food donation goes toward supporting Camp Out for Hunger's overall goal of collecting more than 20,000 pounds for Hand to Hand Food Pantry in High Point.
The Upper School ACT Club also secured a grant of $500 in support of the project, which also will count in the food donation, bringing Westchester's total to 1,525 pounds of food for the local community.
The school also collected more than 500 children's books, which will be distributed to students in pre-K through second-grade classes at Northwood Elementary.
Typically, WCDS students gather for a schoolwide Thanksgiving service project and assembly, but this year’s event continued virtually. Students from all grades pre-K through 12th participated from their classrooms in a schoolwide Zoom web conference on Nov. 19 to count and weigh the donated items.
David Smith, organizer of Camp Out for Hunger at Deep River Friends Meeting, and Liz Samuels of Communities in Schools at Northwood joined the Zoom meeting to talk about needs within the High Point community. Students also made thank you cards for teachers at local elementary schools.
Westchester involves all students in community service through its C.A.R.E.S. Crews program. Older and younger students work together multiple times each year to show compassion, awareness, responsibility, empathy and service to others.
