West Seattle holiday giving: Half a ton from Madison!

55 families will have a happier Thanksgiving, thanks to students, staff, and parents at Madison Middle School. Students collected 1,100 pounds of canned food – more than half a ton! – in a science-department competition, and a staff/parents fundraising drive brought in $3,000 to buy turkey, vegetables, fruit, rice, milk, eggs, and other items.

That resulted in baskets for 45 Madison families and grocery-store gift cards for 10 more, while 25 Madison students sorted the cans and put together the baskets:

Thanks to Madison parent Anne for sharing the story, including school nurse Samara Hoag‘s summary: “We are happy to help our families have a nice holiday.” (P.S. West Seattle’s food banks can still use last-minute holiday help – more on that later this morning after we check in with them.)

Northwest Harvest November 22, 2011 (7:43 am)

What an amazing effort! These students clearly know what a difference they can make for others in their midst. You simply never know who is going hungry. The number of Washington state families experiencing hunger nearly DOUBLED from 2008-2010. Northwest Harvest’s network of 325+ food banks, meal programs and high-need schools statewide has seen an increase of 35% since the start of the recession. Every can, every dollar, truly does help. Way to go, Madison Middle School!

WSMomof3 November 22, 2011 (10:56 am)

That’s really impressive! Love to see our community supporting each other like this. Great job, Madison students!

Madison Adm Team November 22, 2011 (11:47 am)

THANKS to our school nurse, Ms. Sami Hoag for coordinating this event!

Star 55 November 22, 2011 (8:10 pm)

Sami as usual you rock!!! Families will never know the extent of time and effort you put into pulling this off. To the staff who donate money and help students pull this off you are truly amazing.

jd November 22, 2011 (10:18 pm)

Wow! I can only imagine how proud the students feel about how their effort and determination has positively impacted many people’s lives. Bravo!!! What an absolutley beautiful example of how a group of people decided to look outside of their own lives and focus on the needs of their neighbors. Again, bravo to the students and staff at Madison Middle School who took action!

kaya (8th grader) November 23, 2011 (6:16 am)

It really did feel good to do this. This is what Thanksgiving is all about and I think that this will have a large impact on our community. Ms. Hoag organized this whole thing and I am so grateful to have this opportunity to help some people out.

Brandon November 23, 2011 (9:08 am)

@Kaya You also did something good, so congrats to you and your classmates for getting involved in the community. When I was in middle school I never thought about this kind of thing, I am glad the new generation of kids do.

kaya (8th grader) November 23, 2011 (1:53 pm)

@Brandon Thank you! t really was a great experience.I think that all teens should get involved in their community because it really does give you a new perspective on the world around you. I also want to thank Madison MS for providing this opportunity. :)

Sorry, comment time is over.