This year, Huntsville Middle School FBLA's Community Service Project team decided collectively to create gift baskets for local nursing homes. This will be able to deliver some love and warmth during the national pandemic.
Our FBLA members preparing and packaging gift baskets for delivery.
We chose this project because, while we would've loved to do something that is more involved with the community, COVID-19 would not allow us to safely do that. So, we asked ourselves who around the community may have been affected most by COVID?
We saw that those in nursing homes may not have as many visitors as they may have gotten in previous years. We recalled our memories from quarantine and how it can quickly get boring or lonely.
So, while because of COVID we wouldn't really be able to interact with nursing home residents, we could collectively contribute to multiple gift baskets, and deliver them. We believe that these baskets can:
Our Community Service Project team members contacted two local nursing homes. We asked about any needs that nursing homes needed, or lacked of. From our conversations, we discovered that one nursing home needed lotion, and the other requested cards and thoughtful notes.
To the nursing home that needed lotion, we intended to purchase with money from donations gathered from local businesses that wanted to support the cause. Once we had the funding, we would make sure that it is all in our DonorsChoose Page. From here, DonorsChoose will purchase lists made by us, using the funds donated.
To the nursing home that requested cards and thoughtful notes, we're going to give them exactly that. We are going to get volunteers to write cards, and then place them in a gift basket where the nursing home can hand each one out.
Some snacks that we included in our gift baskets were:
Some personal care items that we included in our gift baskets were:
Some entertainment that we included in each of our gift baskets were:
You can find these and many more photos by going to our photos page here.
Now with digital donation platforms like DonorsChoose, it's easy to support a project. That's why we decided to create our online donation platform with DonorsChoose. If you'd like to donate, simply click the "Donate with DonorsChoose" button below.
Can't donate online? That's okay! We can also accept checks made payable to: "Huntsville Middle School FBLA"
Can't support us financially? We understand. You can help our efforts by Writing a Letter that will accompany our gift baskets.
Our members surrounded around our Finished Food Pantry.
At the time when the Community Service Project began, they wanted a way for someone to share the love with everyone else in the community.
The team had thought about books and food.
The team then saw that some families could have had a tough time being able to obtain food for themselves, and their families. So, the team wanted to make sure they didn't have to have the difficulty of finding food as part of their stress. So, they built a food pantry.
The food pantry would be located at the bottom of the Huntsville Middle School hill, where students, parents, or anyone in need, could grab items to make a meal for their families. The food pantry however, wouldn't just be a place you can grab food for your family, they are also a donation box.
If you had any non-perishable items that are in good conditions, they would be allowed to be donated at the donation box. This way, the community is able to donate some items, and help the families of others. Of course, the community isn't the only one that's going to be providing food, to this day, our FBLA members are continuously going down to the box, to place food in the box. We know that especially now with COVID-19 having affected the jobs of hundreds, the community needed the box the most.
Anyone is able to go donate or get food, even if they're not from Huntsville.
FBLA members and fellow HMS student continue to go to the Food Pantry donation box, and donate food items. We believe that the community is loving it as every week we see that food was needed by a family. For this reason, we will continue our efforts towards the 2019-20 Community Service Project.
You can find our food pantry donation box at the bottom of the Huntsville Middle School hill. You can find directions by clicking here. You can also find a handy-dandy map located to the right of this text.
You can also continue to support this project by visiting our DonorsChoose page.