MLN-BDESfood1dec4-14

Shown is the pile gathered earlier in the week for the Eagles’ donation to the local food bank.

MLN-BDESfood2dec4-14

Helpers get together to help load and deliver the food donated throughout the past week.

Beaver Dam Elementary School students are taught to be responsible.  They know that caring for others is an important responsibility.  At this time of giving thanks the students learned about the many blessings that come our way on a daily basis, including the scrumptious meals they are served in Miss Susan’s Restaurant.  However, they also come to realize that not everyone is as fortunate when it comes to having food on the table each day.  The result was a contest that illustrated their care for others and gave them the opportunity to provide food for the Desert Rose food Bank.

The project was initiated by Mrs. Wendy Dotson’s fifth grade class.  Helping out by delivering most of the goods was Mrs. Cheryl Wilbur who works with Encompass.  The contest pitted the classes against each other to see who could bring the most non-perishable food items to school.  The prize was a fabulous pizza party!  Since everyone loves pizza, almost as much as turkey, the race was on!

The eagle painting near the front office was nearly covered by canned goods by the end of the week!  Traffic was down to one lane due to the humongous amount of food brought in by the generous eaglets!  Each day the stack grew, the students counted, and tallies were made.  It proved to be a very exciting week! When the dust cleared, the fourth grade classes emerged as the winners by bringing in a whopping 576 food items! The other classes tallies were as follows:  preschool – 26, kindergarten – 80, first grade – 158, second grade – 382, third grade – 506, and sixth grade – 302.  The grand total for the school was 2,433 non-perishable food items!

Part of the food was delivered by Mrs. Cheryl Wilbur and some students, with Jerin Smith joining as the fifth grade representative.  The rest of the items were presented to representatives of the Desert Rose Food Bank during School Square.  Mike Cashman, director of the bank, and his friend, Darwin Willey, were amazed at how many items the generous students had donated.  They warmly thanked the flock.

Just as the cheese on the pizza could almost be tasted in the mouths of the fourth grade students, a most thoughtful and giving idea came to mind.  They were given the option of foregoing the party in order to donate the money to the food bank.  Sure enough the kind eaglets voted to donate what would have gone towards their pizza part to the food bank.

All of the students are to be congratulated on their ability to understand what the spirit of giving thanks is all about!  A big thanks goes to all of the parents who supported this endeavor and a two-feather salute to Mrs. Wendy Dotson for providing the leadership to complete the project.