Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season, which is a season of embracing love, warmth, and comfort. This time teaches us how to be grateful for what we have and share with others in need. The Greater Latrobe school district has been setting the example for years being a light to many families.
For the past 19 years, Greater Latrobe has been putting together 25-40 baskets per year for Thanksgiving baskets for families in the community. The carefully curated baskets provide comfort and a nice meal for those in need during the Holiday season.
“In 2006, Mrs. Lear and I were the student council advisors, and we attended the State Student Council conference, and they were talking about different ways that student council groups could actually get involved. They were talking about doing some community service activities, and everybody was sharing ideas. A school had mentioned a program similar to this so we’ve structured it, so that it would be unique to us,” shared Houck.
The baskets come directly from the student volunteers in school. Every year, students from each classroom of the high school are asked to sign up and donate a Thanksgiving item of their choosing. Once all the donations are collected, they are brought to the cafeteria for the Student Council to piece the baskets together and add the final touches.
The baskets vary each year depending on the number of donations received. If lucky enough, the extra items get made into baskets and sent into the junior high, furthering the impact to an all-district thing.
“Right now, our list of families is around 30. If we get more items in and can create more baskets, then we will reach out to the junior high. We talk to the school nurse and guidance counselors, and they give us some names so that we’re able to also help families in the junior high as well. All of the donations go to families in our building,” shared Houck, “Sometimes, we’ve had tons of donations, and we were able to give back to some families at Christmas time, too.”
Mrs. Houck feels fortunate to be able to donate to this cause, and her heart goes out to all the families whose lives the donations positively impact. “I think that just, you know, we have a lot, right? So we have things that we can help other people, and at this time of year, we know that there are families who can use a little extra help to make a holiday a little bit more special,” stated Houck.
“I think just giving our students the opportunity to help one another is so positive. I love the fact that it helps students in our building. So, I think that that’s a really nice thing that our school can come together to help each other out,” shares Houck.
The whole process not only helps those in need, but it also brings the district closer together, as we know that the people in our community are here for each other. “I just love sort of seeing how you never know what you’re going to get. So we never know how much, but whenever we put it all together, and we have our student council there, creating those baskets, to see how it just all comes together, is really nice,” said Houck. Giving back and learning to be appreciative are great lessons for life, and this food drive is a great way to instill these values early on.
The lessons learned translate directly to the student body as well. “I really wanted to give back to the community and help families in need,” shared junior Maggie Maiers, who donated generously to the cause.
Mrs. Houck has been running the donations and has built many special memories along the way.” We’re able to make this complete meal out of all of these pieces from so many different people. I think it’s just a great experience to see the student council help work to give something back, but also how it comes from everyone in the building, and how everybody sort of teams up together to make it possible. It’s a big team effort there.”
