Washington Students Donate Loads of Thanksgiving Food
Students opened their hearts and their cupboards to needy adults and children throughout the community during Washington Primary School’s annual Thanksgiving food drive. More than two dozen boxes of individual food and non-perishable items were collected and donated to the Helping Hand Rescue Mission located at 225 Broadway in Huntington Station.
Washington has a tradition of trying to make Thanksgiving a little bit brighter for the less fortunate. As the boxes were loaded into a truck, the vehicle became so loaded down it appeared as if the tires were going flat. “It was heartwarming to see the generosity,” Principal Marsha Neville said.
“Every last item that you donated will be used to help families right here in the Huntington community,” Rev. Rose Marie Gaines told Washington’s students who gathered en masse in the gymnasium to formally present the hundreds of pounds of food they collected. Rev. Gaines, who turned 71 on November 9, serves as executive director of the Helping Hand Rescue Mission which recently celebrated it 42nd anniversary.
“You can say in your heart as you sit down to have Thanksgiving dinner with your own family that you helped those less fortunate who don’t have enough to eat,” Rev. Gaines said before expressing her appreciation to the youngsters for all they did during the food drive.
The Helping Hand Rescue Mission was founded in 1965 by Rev. Gaines, her husband and her mother. According to the group’s website, “After witnessing local poverty conditions first hand, they invested everything they had with the view that if they could help even one person it was worth the investment.”
The Mission supplies food, clothing and furniture to needy families, as well as visiting elderly residents and delivering goods to the homes of those unable to come to the group’s headquarters. The Mission’s main priority is to reach children suffering under impoverished conditions, providing disadvantaged children with educational and character building instruction, school supplies and love.
For more information about the Helping Hand Rescue Mission go to their website at www.hhrm.net or call Rev. Gaines at 351-6996.
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