Monticello high schoolers practice the joy of giving

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — The real spirit of the holidays is alive and well at Monticello High School. In stark contrast to stories about frantic shoppers’ brutish behavior and the season’s vapid commercialism, students at Monticello High School have proven that the important values of compassion, generosity and unselfishness are still alive and well in our most precious resource, namely our children.

As a result of the generosity of the students at Monticello High School, Thanksgiving dinner was feast, not famine, this year for 100 recipients.

Continuing a tradition that dates back to the mid-1960s, the student council sponsored the Monticello High School Thanksgiving Food Drive that deployed upwards of 70 students in the daily collection of donations from each of the school’s first-period classes.

For 14 days, funds were collected and deposited in the student council account, while records were kept to see which class would become this year’s greatest donor.

The real winners, of course, were the families chosen by The United Way, under the direction of Chief Professional Officer Linda Cellini, who has provided the list of eligible families for the past 17 years. Beth Lauri, the student council adviser, headed the drive. She is now in her 19th year in this capacity. Students who want to be a part of the drive, which involves collecing, shopping and distributing the food, have to write essays explaining why they want to become part of this holiday tradition. Between 250 and 300 students apply each year but only 75 are chosen. According to Lauri, “Kids talk about how grateful and appreciative people are to receive this help during the holidays. They want to help out people who are in need.”

This year’s food drive coordinators are John Garry, Leyden Johnson and Jackie Bunce.

The $4,000 dollars raised this year, was used to purchase turkeys, potatoes, juice, string beans, rolls, sweet potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pies. On November 23, two assemblies were held in the morning so that the entire high school could see the array of food on the stage and receive thanks from Lauri, Cellini, Garry, Johnson, Bunce and student council president Joe Dabbraccio. At the assemblies, the winning classes were announced. Kudos were given to the senior choir, which raised $783 dollars, but top honors went to Lauri’s Public Affairs class, which is a college course taught in conjunction with Syracuse University. The class raised $817 dollars. It is the first time that one of Lauri’s classes was the winner.

Winning homerooms got boxes of lollipops, but all donors got something far more valuable, the sense that they had pitched in on a project that reinforced the school’s role in the community.

The 75 students who worked on the drive purchased their own blue sweatshirts that bore the logo “Monticello High School Thanksgiving Food Drive.” Later in the day, following the assembly and wearing those shirts to identify themselves, teams of three students would fan out across the community to hand deliver the dinners to the selected families.

In her remarks to the assembly, Cellini pointed out that “This year’s effort was more important than ever, given the rising cost of fuel and its impact on people’s budgets.” Johnson told the students, “You’ve proven that you are willing to help the community.” Dabbbracio thanked the students for “an extraordinary act of kindness.” He urged them to keep up their collections for the upcoming toy drive.

Money raised over the next couple of weeks will purchase 159 toys for three- and four-year-old children at Sullivan County Head Start. This year’s abundant food drive actually netted a surplus of $1,000 dollars, which will give the toy drive fund an initial boost. This year’s toy drive coordinators are Kristen VanHage, Morgan Sharoff and Jesse Campanaro. The three will peruse the “wish list” submitted by the kids and then shop at Toys R Us the day before the visit to Head Start. On December 20, one of the Monticello students, who is yet to be chosen, will dress up as Santa and others will accompany him (or her) as elves.

For many of the needy children, the gift they receive from the Monticello High School students is apt to be the high point of their holiday. No doubt, the look on their faces when Santa and his elves arrive will be imprinted in the memory of the students who helped to make it possible.

Kudos to the Monticello High School students for promoting values education in a time when many people seem to have forgotten the most important lessons of the holidays.