By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
The students of Washington Elementary School are getting into the holiday season in a big way through a special school project, “Giving Thanks by Giving Back.”
Their goal is to collect 10,000 clothing items by Nov. 22 for Whitewater’s Community Clothes Closet in a project organized by Washington’s “Parents and Teachers Together” (PATT).
Katy Katzman, president of PATT, said, “If we reach that goal, PATT is going to award each classroom $30 to use as they see fit during the upcoming holiday season in hopes that they will ‘Pay It Forward,’ possibly providing a Thanksgiving Dinner to a family, buying some toys for a family in need during the holiday season, etc.”
Katzman also said PATT hoped that deciding how to spend the $30 “will generate some good conversation about ‘giving back.’”
“The students get really excited and motivated by activities,” Katzman said. “And they see the needs in our own school, in our own backyard. We hope that their ideas and thoughts about ordinary acts of philanthropy continue on into adulthood.”
As of Nov. 7, 2,080 clothing items had been collected.
Members of the Whitewater community are invited to join the effort and donate clothing items to “Giving Thanks by Giving Back” by bringing them to Washington Elementary School between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. through Nov. 22. Winter clothes – coats, hats, scarves, mittens, gloves and boots – are high on the priority list.
