|
 School Secretary Rachel Stapleton said that the
official last day of school at New Holland-Middletown will be
Thursday, May 28th. Starting this Friday with the eighth graders,
students and parents will be scheduled to come in for locker clean
out and to pick up personal items such as their personal school
supplies out of the classrooms.
When they do, they will receive a special treat courtesy of the
local Toys for Tots in conjunction with the National Toys for Tots
Foundation.
Local Toys for Tots representative Donna Gaydosh paid
a visit to the school on Tuesday. She and Stapleton went through
some of the 250 books that have been gifted to the school.
The books which were delivered earlier came in five large crates
from distributor Book Depot of Buffalo, New York. Rachel had unboxed
several of the crates and was admiring the wide variety of books and
their outstanding quality. She noted that it appeared there were
books for a wide variety of ages and at least two copies of each
title.
Gaydosh said she had heard from the Toys for Tots
Foundation that free books were being offered to help encourage
children to keep up their reading skills during the summer and this
period of sheltering in place. She jumped on it right away and tried
to reach out to as many schools as possible. She said with the
presence of coronavirus and the closure of local schools, she had a
hard time reaching anyone. But, she did reach Stapleton who was
happy to say yes on behalf of the school and the students. [to top of second
column] |
Stapleton said that there are approximately 80
students at New Holland-Middletown. The plan is to offer each
student one or two books. The books that are remaining, she said the
school may choose to put in the library for regular check out. She
noted that some of the books in the library are quite old and that
when school resumes the kids will enjoy having fresh new books to
read.
Gaydosh noted that the contribution from Toys for Tots is just an
example of what the local organization does in the community. She
noted that so many think about the program only at Christmas, but
Toys for Tots is there for the community year round.
She said that toys have been given to families who suffered losses
due to fire or storms, and is always available to help. When a home
is lost to fire, the family goes through a lot of emotional loss as
well. For kids it is hard because the things they loved and
sometimes relied on as a sense of security are gone in one of the
times they need it most. Toys for Tots can help make a child’s life
a little more bearable while they are dealing with those losses by
providing new items to hold on to.
Anyone who is in need of this type of assistance is encouraged to
reach out to Gaydosh at any time. She can be contacted by telephone
at 217-737-1112. Gaydosh said that the local Toys for Tots also gets
a lot of assistance from the Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District,
and families can contact them as well. They will in turn, reach out
to Gaydosh to help provide what is needed.
[Nila Smith] |
