Malverne students kick off Yes We Can drive at Maurice W. Downing Primary School

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As part of Maurice W. Downing Primary School’s Downing Cares initiative — a program that offers students opportunities to take part in local charitable activities throughout the year — the school’s Student Council began its annual Yes We Can drive on Nov. 13.

“It’s something that I think hits home because we’re servicing our own families, and we’re trying to instill that kind of commitment within the kids,” Student Council adviser Marguerite Robles said of the drive, in which students and teachers donate non-perishable food to create Thanksgiving baskets for local families. “Especially in a world that we’re in now, where there’s sometimes limited amount of sympathy and empathy for others.”

In addition to the food, each recipient will receive a gift certificate to a local store for a turkey. Downing School has held the drive for about a decade, and through the years, many of the community organizations have collaborated with the Student Council to support its efforts. In Malverne, Robles said, opportunities to establish and build relationships between the students and the community have been evident.

“It’s important to start the conversation early for kids to realize that there is a world out there,” Robles said, “and that there are other people that need support. Just like the [Aesop’s Fables] story with the lion and the mouse, they still have a way to be helpful.”

Members of the school’s Student Council helped publicize and coordinate the food drive. Council President Ella Connor, a second-grader who collected chickpeas and rice, said that it has been a fun experience to give back to the community. “We get [to] give away food for people who need it,” Ella, 7, said. “It’s also very polite.”

Second-grader Olivia Vandeven, the Student Council vice president, said that encouraging students to give has been her favorite part of the school’s food drive. “I think that it makes our school a great place to be,” Olivia said.

First-graders Grace Marie and Lauren Barrett agreed that donating food to people in need is even more important during the holiday season. “It makes me feel happy, because we know [how] much some people need food,” Grace, 6, said.

“It’s very nice to help other people that don’t have anything,” Lauren, 6, said.

Robles, an educator for roughly 40 years, said that the collaboration between the staff, students and families is what makes the Downing Cares initiative possible. During the school year, the Student Council holds meetings each week to discuss ways to help the community.

“It’s truly been a privilege . . . all that good stuff that allows you to put the academic part of it aside for a moment and teach in a different way to raise that kind of community awareness,” Robles said.

The Student Council hopes to collect enough food for 10 families, leading to its Coat for Kids drive in December, in which the group collects scarves, mittens, hats and coats. Anyone interested in contributing should call (516) 887-6469.