BREWSTER, N.Y. — Neighbors coming together to lift each other up with dignity and joy is what makes this Hudson Valley community special, and the lessons start early.
From Brewster Central School District.
In the Brewster Central School District, civic responsibility is more than just a word.
Take action and engage with the larger community in a variety of ways. One recent example is a free shopping event held at First Baptist Church in Brewster.
Students from Donna Schneider, Sarah Burns and Dennis Gargano’s life skills class, along with Mader Solores, the district’s community outreach specialist, spent the past four months preparing for the event, which attracted 150 people from across the district. In addition to the above registered guests, many other participants also participated. Walk-in. Customers arrived between 3 and 6 p.m. to shop from a variety of clothing that had been washed, folded and sorted by size by students and teachers.
Clothes stacked by size and type: winter coats and snow pants, long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts, hats and mittens, T-shirts, and pants. In total, there were 12 bags filled with hundreds of clothes.
Clothing came from donations from families, PTAs, outside organizations, or lost property. Students and teachers spent the entire summer at their business, Bubbly Bears, washing clothes collected from each school’s lost and found bins at the end of the year.
The core four students in the Life Skills class are Max Michinko, Joseph Lara, Christian Pinel, and Nicholas Stafford.
Max Michinko explains: “We decided to help the community by providing all the clothing to those in need. Everything that everyone needs is here.” did.
“It was a lot of work sorting the clothes by size and checking the tags, but I think it’s really great to be able to give back to the community,” Joseph Lara said.
“I already knew how to fold. I agree. It feels great to help,” Christian Pinel said.
This is the second year Brewster schools have hosted the free shopping event. In addition to free clothing, the technology department was on site to assist the families. The school also worked with Summers’ extended family to donate 86 decorated bags of food that students packed for families to take home.
This release was created by the Brewster Central School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
