Fifth Grade Service Project a Success

On Sunday, April 28th, the 5th grade class of 2013 got together to support local charities. Students from Atkinson, Franklin, Kittredge, Thomson and Sargent Schools all came together at the North Andover Middle School, (NAMS) to carry out a community service project.  Food, clothing and items for the North Andover Youth Center were collected.

People were able to drop off their donated items at NAMS all day Sunday. Students met people at their cars, collected donated items and carried them into the cafeteria for sorting. Once in the cafeteria, students sorted items by charity, but also sorted clothing by size, separating children’s clothing from adult clothing. Student also collected change for the One Fund, the charity set up to help the people impacted by the Boston Marathon bombing.

The event was a great success with just over $350 raised for One Fund.  Additionally, truckloads of children’s clothing were delivered to Community Giving Tree in Boxford and North East Veterans Outreach in Haverhill. About 50 boxes of food was shared with People’s Pantry in North Andover and board games, DVD movies, and an air hockey table was given to the North Andover Youth Center.

While most 5th grade classes participate in some sort of service project, this was the first year that this event occurred district wide. Kids and parents alike had fun getting together during this service project. Kids had the chance to connect with each other while working alongside one another.  One parent noted, ‘It was great to see so many kids from the different schools participating in giving back to the community.”  Another parent noted, “…the kids worked hard and should be very proud of themselves.”  Hopefully this will be a yearly event for the fifth grade class.