Whitby Students Host Children’s Clothing Drive

whitby-clothing-drive
Tabitha Bodian (Grade 6), Aarshia Pandey (Grade 2), William Chein (Grade 1), Audrey Donato (Grade 2), Farrell Nivrose (Grade 6), Ellery Helgesen (Grade 2).

At Whitby Primary and Lower Elementary teachers recently introduced the topic of “need” through books and discussion with their students. In line with their learning in the classroom, students took action by hosting a gently-used children’s clothing drive for The Sharing Shelf.

The Sharing Shelf is a local organization that works in conjunction with social workers and others to help collect and distribute new and gently used clothing for low-income families in Westchester County ranging from infancy through age 19. Upon receiving a request for clothing, volunteers create a week’s worth of seasonally-appropriate outfits for the neediest children in our community.

Over Thanksgiving break parents and children worked together to collect long-sleeve shirts, short-sleeve t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, pants, dresses, fleece jackets, winter coats, shoes and boots.

On Nov. 30, Kindergarten, first and second graders assembled in the Athletics Center to sort their donations and prepare them for delivery to the Sharing Shelf in Port Chester, N.Y. Through Whitby’s Buddy Program, the younger students were joined by their “buddies” in grades 5 and 6 to help them with the sorting and other activities. Spanish teachers used this as an opportunity for students to practice their Spanish and labeled the sorting bins “en español.” After they were done sorting, they rotated to other stations to read stories together in Spanish, play a Spanish memory game, as well as “Ropa (clothing) Bingo” alongside their older buddies.

The Buddy Program is an initiative that provides fifth and sixth graders opportunities to act as mentors to students in Kindergarten through grade 2. The buddies meet multiple times together throughout the year to help build their relationships, which gives younger ones confidence to interact with older students and adults.

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