Here at Shorecrest each grade level is challenged to help make a difference by being involved in a community service project. Since our kindergarten classes over the past three years have made a total of ten quilts for children in the homeless shelter run by the Salvation Army here in St. Petersburg, we decided to expand our involvement with the homeless shelter.
To launch this effort and to help our students understand the mission of the shelter, we invited a representative from the Salvation Army, volunteer coordinator, Mrs. Gail Stark, to speak to each kindergarten class on Friday afternoon. Mrs. Stark explained how the shelter helps people who are homeless by providing meals and places to sleep. She told us that we can help them in many ways by collecting items they can use and by making cheerful posters and placements. Mrs. Stark had told me on the phone that they had received a donation of cans of pumpkin, and she was looking for volunteers to bake these into dessert for their soup kitchen. I told her I thought we could help out with this effort. Imagine our surprise when she arrived Friday with three cases of pumpkin! The class helped me count the number of cans. Now the challenge is what to do with 58 cans of pumpkin? We will deliver the assorted recipes (pumpkin pies, muffins, loaves, soup) during our visit to the Salvation Army Homeless Shelter on Wednesday, October 12th.
