Streams Elementary delivers warm wishes to veterans

The outreach effort was organized by fourth grade teacher Amanda Royer with assistance from third grade teacher Anne Conrad and several teacher volunteers.

“The Streams family rallied behind this cause without hesitation,” Mrs. Royer said. “Because of their generosity, we had thousands of individual items to pack. The most impressive part was seeing how each family made sure to buy items they enjoyed so that the vets could enjoy them, too.”

From Dec. 1 through Dec. 12, students donated a wide variety of items to ensure each bag was overflowing with warmth and care. Kindergarten families contributed comfort supplies such as hand warmers, hats, gloves, rain ponchos, puzzle books, decks of cards and colored pencils. Families in grades one and two donated food items, including popcorn, pretzels, chips, trail mix, cereal bars, instant oatmeal cups, fruit snacks and drink mix packets. Third- and fourth-grade families provided travel-size toiletries, including shampoo, body wash, lip balm, lotion, nail clippers, toothbrushes, tissues and shaving cream.

Once all of the donations were sorted and displayed, approximately 60 fourth-grade students in the After-School Action program served as personal shoppers for the veterans – carefully selecting each item to fill their shopping bags. 

“We were so impressed by how thoughtfully the students packed their bags,” Mrs. Royer said. “The directions were to ‘shop like you're packing a bag for a dear friend.’ As they looked through the tables, they did their best to make this the best holiday gift their vet could receive.”

Each bag was also decorated with a special ornament handcrafted by Streams fourth graders.

“For us, the personal touch was just as important as meeting the physical needs through donations,” Mrs. Royer said. “Though the donations and goodies will be appreciated, we hope this sends the message that they are remembered and celebrated this holiday season.”

The After-School Action program, which launched in the fall, gives fourth graders students opportunities to extend their learning through projects that demonstrate how small efforts can make a meaningful difference. The program’s tagline is “Drops of Kindness, Oceans of Change.” 

“We hope the children who donated or volunteered see that even the smallest act of kindness can add up in powerful ways,” Mrs. Royer said. “That's our ultimate goal.”

The 120 Warm Wishes Bags will help to spread kindness to area veterans.

“The items are going to Veterans Place to support the 60 homeless veterans who currently call it home,” Mrs. Royer said. “Anything in excess of 60 is going towards the needs of the 1,500 veterans served through the Veterans Resource Center, which works directly with Veterans Place.”

The mission of Veterans Place is to empower veterans’ transitions from homeless to home, ending the cycle of homelessness, and to assist all at-risk veterans to become engaged, valuable citizens who contribute to their communities.