Holy Trinity students, Holy Name Parish collecting for Thanksgiving dinners
Students at Holy Trinity School in Fall River proudly display their turkey cutouts, which go up on school walls to show that a turkey has been purchased for the school’s Thanksgiving food drive to benefit Citizens for Citizens. (Courtesy photo | Kevin Flynn)
Originally published on heraldnews.com
FALL RIVER — The student body at Holy Trinity School is in a fowl mood these days.
The Pre-K through 8 school is conducting a food drive/turkey buy for Citizens for Citizens annual Thanksgiving dinner program for needy families. On Oct. 28, Holy Trinity teachers announced to students that the 200th turkey had just been bought. “To say that they were excited,” said seventh-grade teacher and food drive coordinator Dorothy Mahoney-Pacheco, “would be an understatement.” bonusaffiliate.com
Holy Trinity set a goal of providing 300 food baskets and turkeys to CFC. That goal has become a commitment. Mahoney-Pacheco said she actually put in the order for 300 turkeys. She sounds mighty confident 300 will happen. Maybe more. The train is picking up speed. This past weekend, Holy Name Parish collected $4,000 for the drive. Mahoney-Pacheco is also the Director of Faith Formation at Holy Name and she’s directing that parish’s share of the food drive.
When a turkey ($20) is purchased for the food drive, a turkey cutout goes up on the walls at Holy Trinity. When a school family buys a bird, the student gets to name it. Some names are silly. Others are in memory of someone.
It’s not only the turkey count that has the students’ attention. Every day, they’re increasingly excited to see what was (and will again be) the art room filling up with the non-perishables for the baskets. “We had an 18-pack of macaroni and cheese come in, and you would have thought it was Christmas morning,” Mahoney-Pacheco said. Mahoney-Pacheco said the food drive/turkey is a great life lesson for the students. They come to realize that people right around them are needy, and that they can make a difference, she said.
A cutout turkey goes up on the walls at Holy Trinity School in Fall River when a sponsor buys a turkey for its Thanksgiving food drive to benefit the Citizens for Citizens Thanksgiving meal project. (Courtesy photo | Kevin Flynn)
The food drive/turkey buy runs to Nov. 13. For the next few days after that, the baskets will get put together. Baskets and turkeys will be dropped off at Citizens for Citizens for its distribution day of Nov. 19.
The Holy Trinity Thanksgiving program is not a closed shop. Once word got out about what was happening at 64 Lamphor St. in the city’s South End, donations (food, money) started to come in from outside people and organizations. Mahoney-Pacheco said that anyone interested in donating may contact her (401-556-9729; dpacheco@htfr.dfrcs.org) or the school. Any cash donations or checks sent to or dropped off at the school should be designated for the food drive. The school’s address is 64 Lamphor St., Fall River, MA 02721.