Malvern Prep Middle School students, Patrick Gray (Gr. 6) of Havertown, Victor Bucci (Gr. 6) of West Chester and Aidan Gordinier (Gr. 7) of Exton sorted through all of the donations for the Stuff a Truck event earlier this year.
MALVERN — The goal was to “Stuff a Truck,” and that is exactly what Malvern Prep Middle School students did for Cradles to Crayons last month – filling more than 200 13-gallon bags with goods such as clothes, toys and school supplies for the Philadelphia charity.
Using Malvern’s Homecoming to generate excitement and publicity, the students, with the help of their teachers, held a donation drive that captured the attention of the Malvern community, from fellow students and teachers, to parents and alumni.
“We filled 212 bags with the goods we collected. Those donations enable Cradles to Crayons to provide 318 kids with essential items for home, school and play” said Robert Buscaglia, Middle School Spanish teacher and event organizer.
Eighth grader Sean Hanson-Ashworth of Trevose participated in both last year’s and this year’s event. He found great satisfaction from filling the truck.
“The ‘Stuff a Truck’ was one of the best charity events I have done. It is always fun to give back to the community, and Cradle to Crayons provides people with great ways to help out in your local community,” he said. “I hope to work with Cradle to Crayons in the future as I had great time working the event.”
Michael Harrington (Gr. 8) of Glenmoore, Austin Yang (Gr. 6) of Malvern and Tommy Simpson (Gr. 6) of Wayne had an important role of cleaning the donations before they were packed away on the truck.
This drive is a continuation of Malvern Prep’s partnership with Cradles to Crayons that began in September 2013 with an initial “Backpack Drive.” Last year, Middle School homerooms were pitted against one another to see who could collect and fill the most backpacks. This drive culminated with an Expedition Day, which was an opportunity for students to hear from local organizations and their efforts to combat childhood poverty and assist low-income families.
“The purpose of the ‘Backpack Drive’ was two-fold,” said Buscaglia. “One was to involve the boys in a charitable act, and the second was to take this charitable act one step further and apply an educational aspect – exploring the idea of childhood poverty through an Expedition Day.”
Malvern Prep is currently working with Cradles to Crayons on ways to continue cultivating their relationship.
Cradles to Crayons is a national not for profit organization located in Boston and Philadelphia. Its mission is to provide children from birth through age 12, living in homelessness or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive- at home, at school and at play. Items are supplied free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need. For more information, please visit www.cradlestocrayons.org.
