One Great Day of Giving

For the past 13 years the University Laboratory School has participated in the One Great Day of Giving. The idea was to help the Shepherd’s Market Client Choice Food Pantry with their Great Turkey Giveaway. The Shepherd’s Market serves the Gardere/Highland Road area where food insecurity is one of the highest in Baton Rouge. The Pantry is a client choice food pantry; meaning that clients shop for the food they want for their family. Each month the Pantry feeds 500 families. The Pantry is open 3 days a week and is run completely by volunteers.

The Pantry hosts The Great Turkey Giveaway each year where they provide a complete holiday meal for 550 families. To help the Pantry with the non – perishables that are given to the family the Laboratory School hosts One Great Day of Giving. Each student in grades K-12 receives a brown paper bag and list of items needed to fill the bag. The bags are handed out after Thanksgiving break and will be returned on Wednesday, December 11 when we will stuff the bus. Last year, our students brought on over 5390 pounds of food! To help with the cost of the turkeys the Laboratory School will hold PJs for Turkeys. Students can pay $2.00 to wear their PJs to school on Friday, November 22. All of the money raised will help to cover the cost of the turkeys.

This annual event has been such a joy to our school. Students have been participating in the event since kindergarten, so they know what to do and look forward to stuffing the bus. Students in Middle and High School Student Council help with distributing the bags, loading the bus and going to the Pantry to unload, sort and rebag the items. It is a true community event that brings pleasure to all of the participants and then of course it is a gift to the recipients. I hope the Laboratory School continues to be a light in the Gardere/Highland Road area for those less fortunate than us.