Auburn Elementary students learn the Gift of Giving

Fourth and fifth grade students from Auburn Elementary in the Avondale School District volunteered to sort and pack and move boxes at Gleaners Community Food Bank in Pontiac as part of the school’s Gift of Giving campaign. Gleaners’ distribution centers send millions of pounds of food annually to more than 510 soup kitchens, shelters and pantries in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties.

The students’ trip, arranged by Avondale parent and Gift of Giving organizer Bonnie Kakuda, was an opportunity for the students to learn that helping others doesn’t always require a financial contribution. Auburn Elementary principal BJ McCabe sees a lot of value in the students helping out at Gleaners. “This is an activity that helps others while helping the students to develop responsible citizenship. It raises their awareness of people in need and it shows them that they can give back to their community by simply giving the gift of their time.”

Avondale teachers Kristen Little and Melissa Fortino traveled with the students to the food bank for the second year in a row and helped the students move 2300 pounds of condiments, cereal and beverages. “It’s important to lead by example when you’re teaching community service,” said Little. “The students respond when they see others actively engaged. It shows them that whatever the activity is, it’s important and worth spending time on.”

McCabe agrees that involving the students in service activities that are hands-on and where youngsters see adults stepping up is a meaningful way to instill a sense of community responsibility. He also feels that there is something to be discovered in each child that comes to light when they reach out and help someone in need. “Giving back, on the surface, is a gift to someone in need but at the heart of it, giving back is really a gift to yourself. We want to inspire our students to live a life knowing what a gift it is to give back.”

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