Food Gatherers: a lesson in compassion

Yesterday, our class went to Food Gatherers to donate food. This was a life enriching experience for all of us. It was absolutely thrilling to see our children giving something meaningful to the community. This is where a seed of compassion has been planted, in them. We had prepared for the expedition with stories and discussions. Then we carried our food to the bus. The children were all  huffing and puffing, saying, "My goodness this is heavy." At the same time , they would help each other out by saying, "I can help you carry." It really brought tears to my eyes. 

When we arrived at the facility, we were greeted by our coordinator,  Missy. She loaded the trolley, and then she took us to a conference hall with an enormous table. The children were all so excited to be sitting down next to this gigantic table. They kept on saying, " I bet the President of America sits at this kind of a table," and

"Oh, my daddy has just like this one at work." Missy read a story about Carl the Carrot, which explained  and how they rescue food, and where it goes to. Then she gave us a tour of the ware-house. The children walked out through  the freezer and were amazed to see how big it was! 

One of the great things about Missy was that she really understood how children need to be involved in order to learn properly. When she weighed the trolley with the food, the children participated by guessing how much it weighed. Well, the whole thing weighed 111 pounds. Then she asked the children to stand on the weighing machine. Again, she asked them  to estimate how much they all weighed. They took all kinds of guesses; the answer was 358 pounds. Then another volunteer came and helped unload our food unto the weighing machine. Our  donated food weighed 58 pounds. So then the challenge was for the children to figure out how much the trolley weighed!Now, a fascinating lesson on sorting took place, as our children shelved the items according to where they belonged.  Finally Missy told them about volunteering, that they had all volunteered. Ollie said, "Oh good! I am going to tell my mom, then we can come to volunteer together." Yep, parents, they need all of us - and what a great opportunity to share a really meaningful experience with your children.They were equally happy to see the donors list and to learn that next year our school's name will be posted there as well. Parents, thank you for all of your donations and and for supporting a wonderful Valentine's experience: life is beautiful!The children also enjoyed connecting with the Architecture them, as Missy explained to them who designed the building and why it was so big. One of the walls was painted orange, as the logo for Food Gatherers is a carrot. (They chose a carrot because  everything in a carrot is edible, nothing goes to waste - a good thought for young minds to ponder)