Although some of the circumstances surrounding Thanksgiving this year are different, the Pine View community is still continuing the giving tradition. Pine View students and faculty succeeded in raising $2,708.28 for the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Food Drive, which was well above the goal of $2,500.
Although the food drive is an annual event, it was a bit different from this year. Instead of collecting canned food and other non-perishable food items, plastic containers were placed in most classrooms, which students and teachers then put loose change into.
Third-grade teacher Sara Kolsky organized the event, and her class was among the top fundraisers in elementary school. Joann Hershberger’s second-grade class, Debbie Delaney’s fourth-grade class, and Peggy Barber’s fifth-grade class were top contributors as well, with a total of $555.23 between them.
Social studies teacher Ashley McLeod and her students raised almost $600 alone, so McLeod dyed her hair pink and wore a tutu to school on Friday. She had been using this as an incentive to get her students to bring in more money and reach their class goal of $500.
While the food drive was advertised as a quarter drive, any money, cash or coins, was accepted. This was especially useful on Friday afternoon, the last day of the food drive, when the money raised was about $60 short of the goal.
“Sara Kolsky called me and said we were $61.75 short,” front office receptionist Jenny Reyka said. “So I put an announcement out to all the staff and told everybody to dig deep into their pockets, that we needed $61.75. And the teachers were running to me with $20 bills.”
Teachers Elizabeth Ballard, Mark Thorpe, Amanda Simon, McLeod, and several students immediately ran some money over to the office, and even more teachers called and said they would be willing to donate if the goal had not been met yet.
With the goal being met, it was time for another incentive for students to be completed: Elementary Assistant Principal Roy Sprinkle was “sprinkled” with silly string Friday, Dec. 11, as a way to celebrate this success.
Photos by eighth-grader Madilyn Hagney and seventh-grader Cora Mcginnis; Video by eighth-grader Shelby Brann