Thank you so much to Daughters of Penelope – Bridgeport “Hermes” Chapter 41, District 7, G.O.Y.A. (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Bridgeport and the AHEPA chapter 62 for the donations for bagged lunches and for putting together the bagged lunches for our neighbors in need 🥪 These are wonderful and welcomed meals for our Community Kitchen guests to grab and go. Thank you for your helping hands and big hearts! 💙🙏🏽

We adore our youngest helpers from schools in our community! In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day weekend, the Jennings School community gathered for a two part effort to help our neighbors in need. To celebrate the Super Bowl, the school held a Souper Bowl, where 100 items of canned soup and canned goods were collected. Also, that evening, during the “Cupid’s Carnival,” kids created Valentine’s Day cards and decorations, to be donated to Operation Hope and made for friends and family. An event combining giving back and having fun, the kids also played games and had fun.

Last week, the RLMS Student Leadership Club organized RLMS’ hugely successful drive for Operation Hope. The club is a group of students in grades 6-8 who are interested in planning events, shaping school culture, and serving the larger Fairfield community. Though advised by staff members Joelle Kilcourse and Kristiann Kassay, all activities are brainstormed at weekly meetings and voted on by club members. The Food Drive initiative was suggested by members of the group and was unanimously supported by the club. Together, the group made a goal of collecting 1,000 food items and made a plan to communicate this initiative to the larger school community through posters, visits to homerooms, “tell two friends at lunch” campaign, and emails through our school communication platform, ParentSquare. The club added an additional layer of fun by turning the collection into a Crew competition, with the winning Crew in each grade awarded $100 Amazon wishlists to divide equally among homerooms to purchase enriching classroom items! The response was overwhelmingly supportive, and we were THRILLED to exceed our goal. It was also wonderful for Student Leadership Club members to bag and box items, and then help move them into volunteers’ cars in order to fully understand the scope of their collection and how it will help our neighbors in need. Next year, the club is aiming for 2,000 items! Thank you to these wonderful student leaders for their drive and desire to help those less fortunate in our community.