Before they enjoyed their Christmas, Anna’s Kindness volunteers helped ensure other children would enjoy theirs.
Our volunteers spent the weekend helping parents in need pick out Christmas gifts for their families as part of Peace Neighborhood Center’s annual toy distribution. Qualified parents who may not be able provide a lot for their children were permitted to come to the center and select Christmas presents for their family.
Anna’s Kindness students arranged toys, dolls and puzzles on tables, and laid out clothing and household items. The students and their parents then helped these holiday shoppers check out, bag their items, and take the bags to their cars.
Forsythe Middle School’s Estelle and Olivia Haft, Phoebe Spadafore, Sarina Thomas and their parents got up early Saturday to make sure the toy room at Peace was well-stocked when parents begin arriving at 9 a.m. Forsythe classmates Nico Colias and Noah Silkworth, joined Anna’s former classmate and soccer teammate Hayley Marchand to keep the tables arranged and organized. Skyline freshman Lewis McCammon and Forsythe’s Grieta Ham restocked the tables for the Saturday afternoon shoppers.
Forsythe’s Christian DeKeyzer and Anna’s brother Alex helped set up the inventory for Sunday morning’s shoppers. They were followed by Forsythe’s Lincoln Kowalk and Tappan’s Hans Rober who helped the Peace staff organize the stock room and other assorted tasks. After lunch, Forsythe’s Bailey Edison spent much of his time bagging toys and helping shoppers get their bags to their cars. Anna’s former classmates and teammates Karina Roberts and Olivia Wright worked the checkout desk.
Thanks to the volunteer’s parents who helped at the event, and a special thanks to Chuck, Fran and Hayley Marchand for hosting the volunteers on Saturday.
And finally, a heartfelt thank you to Bonnie, Kevin, Jonathan and the entire Peace staff for allowing us to play a small part in such a wonderful mission for the community’s less fortunate. We truly value our relationship with Peace. Serving others at Christmas can have a tremendous, lasting impact on our young people.
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