School district donates Thanksgiving meals

    Students and staff of the Washington School District donated 181 Thanksgiving dinners Tuesday evening. A group of teachers gathered at Fareway?s loading dock to bag the meals and hand them to the cars that drove up to receive them.

    The meal giveaway was put on by the Washington Education Association, which includes the staff in the district. The association was assisted by junior high and high school groups that pitched in, such as FFA, Peer Helpers, National Honor Society and Student Congress.

    Sue Spencer, a learning strategies teacher at the junior high, was the person who hatched the idea for the program six years ago. The third week in November is American Education Week, and Spencer wanted to take the opportunity for faculty to give something back to the community. There are already many programs to provide necessities for people at Christmas, so she thought it would be a good idea to do something for Thanksgiving.

    The schools start raising money for the program in early November, and then on Nov. 12 they reported to Fareway how many meals to order. School employees such as the principals and guidance counselors get together and make a list of families to contact, and then ask the family if it would like a Thanksgiving meal.

    ?They?re extremely appreciate of the meal,? said Spencer. ?Several families invited us to their house. That was a great feeling for them, because they had food to serve.?

    Spencer said that each public school gets about 40 meals, and that students at the A.S.S.U.R.E. Center get them, too.

    ?It?s a group effort by everybody in the district in helping to get things organized,? she said. ?I might be the organizer, but I need everybody?s help along the way.?

    Mike Zahs, a retired teacher who helps with the program, said the group donated 45 meals the first year. The number of donated meals has grown every year since then.

    ?The growth is good in that it shows the support of the Washington school staff,? he said. ?At the same time, it tells us the need we have in the community.?

    Zahs said that not every family who is called accepts a meal.

    ?We?ve had people who have gotten meals one year and the next year they didn?t feel they should have one, and that they wanted us to find someone else.?

    Zahs remarked that the families who receive the meals are very thankful for them.

    ?I gave two bags to a lady who kept saying ?Thank you,? ?Thank you,? ?Thank you,?? said Zahs. ?One time, I took bags of groceries to a home, and they just put food on the table and started eating it right then. That was the food that was in their house.?

    Angela Taylor is a learning strategies teacher at the high school and helps put on the meal donation. She said the meal feeds a family of four to five.

For more, see our Nov. 24 print edition.