For the last 24 years, Diablo Valley Montessori School (DVMS) in Lafayette has held an annual Coin Drive, benefitting the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano for the holiday season. A preschool serving young children through Pre-K, DVMS believes that you are never too young to help someone in need. “This is not only a fun activity for the kids, but it is an important way we can empower our children to take action to help other children and their families who are in need,” said Annie, a member of the Parents Club at the school.
This year when DVMS asked us what else they could do for the Food Bank, we were thrilled that teachers, parents, and students enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to work on a holiday project for seniors who receive our support. Over the past few months, students have been hard at work, carefully crafting holiday cards—for people they don’t even know—so that we can include their well-wishes with our food packages given out through our Senior Food Program. This week, they delivered HUNDREDS of cards for us to disperse!
When asked about their experience, students shared the following:
“I counted coins in my classroom for the coin drive, which is for the people that don’t have any money. We made each of them a lovely card to go with the coins to put a smile on their face.” Skyler, Age 5
“I liked bringing coins to school because it would help feed people who don’t have food. And it was fun making the cards for people for the holidays. The cards will make them happy, and it made me happy to make other people happy!” Camdon, Age 4.5
The Food Bank thanks the students, parents, and teachers of Diablo Valley Montessori School in Lafayette for their steadfast and thoughtful support. We are grateful for your cheerful holiday cards and all the volunteer hours you put into them. Additional thanks to Suzette, Head of School, for sharing these photos with us.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season to all our volunteers. On behalf of all of us here at the Food Bank, thank you for making a difference in someone’s life in 2019.
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Did you know? Food Banks are flush with volunteers during the holiday months at the end of the year. But after December 31, we can’t find enough people to fill our volunteer shifts. This is a time when we need your help the most. Not only are our warehouse aisles packed with food drive products that need to be sorted, but hunger never rests. The Food Bank provides emergency food to 178,000 every month. Yet, we find it the most difficult to staff our volunteer shifts during the first months of the year.
Interested in making a volunteer commitment in 2020? At the time of this writing, numerous volunteer opportunities from January to March are waiting to be filled. Register and sign up here: foodbankccs.org/volunteer. Help us fight hunger 365 days of the year!
