This holiday season, the Community Engagement Program (CEP) is busy with many projects aimed at helping others, involving students, staff and faculty. In November, CEP hosted Hunger Awareness Week, in which the School community participated in the dining halls during lunch. During the main event, students and adults drew lottery tickets that assigned them to either a high-, middle- or low-income tier. The number of tickets for each income level is based on the latest statistics about the number of people living in poverty. The ticket that each student or adult received indicated whether they would eat a full meal, rice and beans, or just a bowl of rice. In addition, some students pledged to eat only rice from 10:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the entire week. With a contribution from the bookstore and cash donations collected at the snack bar, the School’s donation totaled almost $3,000; $2,130 from the Upper School will go to Partners in Health for work in Haiti, and $830 from Middle School will go to local charities.
CEP is also managing a gift drive to fulfill the wishes of 75 children from the Department of Children and Families (DCF), from the Brookview House (a local family shelter), as well as some requests for families of students at the Taylor Elementary School. Many student advisory groups together are purchasing gifts or collecting money for food baskets. The food baskets are for about 20 families support by DCF, and students will assemble the baskets next Monday. The School is also supporting the Milton Residents Fund—which helps families in need who live in the Town of Milton—by purchasing gifts for the holidays.
And this Saturday, CEP will host a holiday party for the children of Brookview House in the ACC. The girls’ basketball team will run the games and activities for a fun afternoon on campus.