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Schools

PCSD Custodial Staff and Schools Team up to Bring Thanksgiving Dinner to Peekskill Families

In an effort to help the community in which they live and serve, the Peekskill City School District’s custodial staff received a donation of 20 turkeys on Monday from their local Stop & Shop Supermarket. The turkeys were part of a collaborative effort between the custodial staff and each of the district’s six schools to construct Thanksgiving dinner baskets for Peekskill families.

The plan to collect the turkeys was originated by James Council, the Peekskill custodial staff’s Shop Steward. The idea came after the group of workers, many of whom are Peekskill residents and alumni, were trying to think of a way to do something nice for the community.

“We’d like to make it an annual thing,” said Fred Vanca, the President of Peekskill’s custodial unit. “We want to keep a good thing going.”

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Scott Bertomeu, the store manager at Peekskill’s Stop & Shop said the store was happy to help with the custodial staff’s project.

“On behalf of Stop & Shop, I can say that we are always proud to serve the community in which we work and it’s an absolute pleasure to help out the Peekskill City School District,” Bertomeu said.

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After collecting the turkeys from the store, custodial workers brought the birds back to Uriah Hill Elementary School where they removed price tags and prepared the turkeys to be placed in decorative baskets that had been prepared at each of the district’s schools.

The baskets, decorated by PCSD faculty and students, held all of the components needed for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, including stuffing, mashed potatoes, canned vegetables and pies. The goods were donated by buildings’ administration, faculty, staff, and parents.

“The children really enjoyed helping out,” said Raquel Cruz, a teacher at Uriah Hill Elementary School. “And this was a nice way to teach them about giving to others.”

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