On Saturday, March 3, Dedham Country Day School hosted a special day of service to benefit children in the greater Boston area served by the Cradles to Crayons organization (C2C). C2C’s mission is to provide children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive at home, at school and at play.
Reflecting DCD’s longtime commitment to community service involving all ages, families arrived together to take part in the school’s first “Family Volunteer Day” to benefit C2C. Joining DCD staff and alumni, they formed a group of nearly a hundred volunteers in all who spent the morning sorting, inspecting, and organizing all the gently used clothes, shoes, books, and toys that were collected during the school’s month-long drive in February. All the goods were then transferred back to the Cradles to Crayons facility where everything will be prepared and packaged for distribution to the children.
Carrying big purple sacks full of donations, volunteers brought all the items from the storage container to the Rand Gym distributing everything among the different sorting stations set up around the room. Each student, parent, and staff member was assigned to work at a specific station. Armed with toothbrushes, spray bottles, and paper towels, volunteers cleaned the soles of shoes, wiped down toys, and inspected clothing and books to make sure every item was in good condition. One of the most challenging jobs was to make sure that the toys donated had all the requisite pieces. With the help of students, Head of School Allison Webster took on the challenge of dismantling and organizing several Lego sets and counting puzzle pieces.
Clothing – 54 bags
Books – 2 large rolling bins
Toys – 11 bags
Nursery Items – 9 bags