At this stage of development, preschool children have the capability of embracing empathy. Since 1990, The New School-West Preschool has collected food for the Westside Foodbank every holiday season with the intention of fostering empathy among our children. One of our sister school's, Blueberry Preschool, has reached out to the community to gather supplies and funding for Haiti. Through their outreach and silent auction, they were able to raise over $7,000 for relief. We have worked annually with St. Jude's Hospital through our trike-a-thon and this year, did a school supply drive for Namibian school children in Africa.
Currently, we are offering the children the opportunity to process the earthquake in Haiti by gathering food for Lime-aid relief and dialoguing in small groups. Choosing to increase our support of the Westside Foodbank, we paired with Pedal Patch Community to expand our support of the local hungry by creating a year round vegetable garden at our preschool on Venice Blvd. Pedal Patch Community (PPC) is a community supported, social enterprise that focuses on land use, eco-literacy, sustainability, food security and community building. Through selective programming, they help build healthy, sustainable communities "one patch at a time." Check them out at:
http://www.pedalpatchcommunity.com/
With the first and subsequent harvests we will be able to donate our produce directly to the Westside Foodbank throughout the year: offering relief to the hungry, and a sense of community and resourcefulness to our preschool children.
In order to create this 'feed the hungry' garden at our preschool, and raise awareness of preschool children's capabilities, we're inviting the community to get involved. For several years, we have worked with interns from Venice High School as afternoon aids here at NSW. They have a requirement to fulfill 40 hours of community service and are excited to join us on a workday. We will need more volunteers to bag mulch, rake mulch, build raised beds, lift lumber, join our 'stewardship team' which will care for the garden, document the experience, and write reflections for our local newspaper and school blog.
We're organizing a work day on February 6th from 9:00am to 3:00pm at The New School-West. There's a shift sign up on the door. Please come help, we'll provide the tools, and together, we'll instill a sense of community and citizenship in future generations right here, on Venice Blvd.
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