Choir donates food to families

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving holiday was made a bit brighter for a number of local families, after members of the middle and high school choir paid them a special visit the night before.

On Wednesday, more than a dozen local students spent their evenings packing turkeys, chickens and all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal for six families in the basement of the First United Methodist Church, before hitting the streets to deliver the bags to the recipients. Members of the Dowagiac Fine Arts Boosters, including choir teacher Jeff Robinson, pitched in with the efforts as well.

The families benefiting from the donations were chosen by the boosters from a list made by counselor with the district’s elementary schools, meaning that children within the district were recipients of the gift. Families with as many as eight members were included on this year’s list.

“You don’t who might be close to you who needs help but doesn’t say anything about it,” Robinson said. “It makes the kids feel special, to know they’re helping their classmates.”

Besides receiving a turkey, potatoes, canned yams, corn bread muffin mix and other items for yesterday’s holiday, the families also received a variety of other nonperishable foods to help through the coming weeks. The remaining items were donated to ACTION’s food pantry.

The choir students have been collecting food for Thanksgiving donations for the past five years, with many returning every year to pitch in, Robinson said. It’s among several activities the students and boosters do every holiday season to give back to the community, as a way of “paying it forward.”

“The kids’ perception of holidays changes when through their giving,” Robinson said. “That’s worth a million bucks to me, to see them embrace that joy of giving. That’s what the season is all about.”