— from Orcas Island Food Bank —
On November 17, Salmonberry School’s 45 students pulled and pushed wagons overflowing with donated food to the Orcas Island Food Bank. This year’s donations totaled 410 pounds and represented the school’s largest single donation to the Food Bank to date.
According to Salmonberry’s Head of School, Paul Freedman, “Salmonberry works hard to connect our students with the larger community in which we live. Over the years this has led us at various points to partner with the Orcas Senior Center, The SJC Land Bank, the WA State Bureau of Land Management, the Orcas Lions Club, the Orcas Island Historical Museum, the San Juan County Council and many other local and state agencies and organizations.
“It is not enough that our students are learning academic skills. We feel they must learn to care. To care for themselves, their friends, their community and the world in general. We try to cultivate their capacity to utilize their literacy and numeric skills and apply them to the real world. We help them to become powerful creative and critical thinkers who are able to make a positive difference in the world. It is in that spirit that, for fifteen years, we have partnered with the Orcas Food Bank, raising kids` awareness regarding issues of hunger locally and globally and then doing what we can to make a difference.”
This year’s students were glowing with pride and a sense of accomplishment as they delivered and weighed this year’s contribution. “Salmonberry School would like to extend its heartfelt and sincere appreciation to the Orcas Food Bank,” says Freedman, “and all the volunteers and donors who sustain it. It is a privilege to partner with an organization dedicated to feeding our island families.”
The Food Bank is very grateful for what Salmonberry has done for its recipients, too.
