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December 13, 2024
Volunteers including Lincoln Academy students helped pack Thanksgiving baskets at the Ecumenical Food Pantry on November 24 and 25. LA senior Arsen Mikaylen, an international student from Armenia, is in his third year at LA and is a veteran of the Thanksgiving basket volunteer day at the Ecumenical Food Pantry in Newcastle.
By Nathaniel Hufnagel
Lincoln Academy Talon
Bright and early on the mornings on November 24 and 25, volunteers gathered in the basement of Saint Patrick’s Church for the annual loading and preparation of Thanksgiving baskets. Among these volunteers, Lincoln Academy residential students continued their Thanksgiving tradition, with 31 students showing up to help out.
The first day was dedicated to preparing the contents of the boxes and getting ready for packing day. The second morning two large assembly lines were formed with restockers on the inside and packers on the outside. Strong young folk waited to carry the boxes to be counted and sorted by town. In record time, all the turkeys were used up and almost 350 Thanksgiving meals were ready thanks to the haste and hard work of the volunteers.
By 9:30 trucks began to arrive from each town to be loaded and sent off. Thanks to great organizing, the loading went smoothly and the boxes were counted out by LA math teacher Susan Levesque.
The church basement was filled with the festive feeling of community and collaboration. Every volunteer worked with a smile, while Christmas carols were played on full blast the entire day. Three generations were present those two days, each enjoying conversations with the other. It made the area’s deep rooted sense of community even more apparent.
Jim Swan, one of the organizers, thanked the student volunteers in an email after the event. “As the needs in our community continue to grow, it is encouraging to witness the level of engagement and assistance everyone at Lincoln Academy displayed during last week’s efforts. It’s no understatement to say that we could not have organized, packed and loaded this year’s nearly 350 meals without your help.”
In total, more than three hundred families were given boxes carefully laden with the means for a true Thanksgiving feast. With boxes distributed across eight towns, the effort was a huge success.
Lincoln Academy junior Nathaniel Hufnagel is a member of the Talon editorial board and enjoyed participating in the second day of the box making.
