By Jenny Lapidus, Community Coordinator

We returned from our summer break to the devastating news of Hurricane Harvey. Our sixth graders spearheaded our action plan by meeting in Care Families to discuss ways to help. As a school, we decided to launch a coin drive.  After collecting nearly $1500, we were able to support the following:

1) A middle school in the Houston area by purchasing supplies;
2) A Food Bank of Houston with a cash donation; and
3) Water purification tablets to a group in Puerto Rico.

In October, we walked as a school community in support of JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) for the 8th consecutive year! Over 150 members of the Los Encinos School community joined over ten thousand walkers at the Rose Bowl for this meaningful walk to raise awareness and money for researching and finding the cure for Type 1 diabetes. (Click any image below to zoom in.)

The last quarter of 2017 was filled with news and updates on the horrendous fires devastating California. We undertook a drive to help. A collection of gently worn jeans was calendared to coincide with our annual gently used clothing drive in January. Hundreds of pairs of usable jeans were collected and taken to Ventura County to help those affected by the Thomas Fire.

In April, we hosted a conference of the Educators Consortium of Service Learning (ECSL). Twenty-nine schools and a panel representing homeless services throughout our area gathered in Parish Hall for lunch, followed by the presentation. ECSL has been devoted to integrating service learning into the school curriculum for the past 30 years and it was a very moving and informative event.

LA Family Housing, a stellar organization for those transitioning from homelessness is one of our benchmark projects. This year, LAFH opened The Campus in North Hollywood which provides an innovative approach to outreach and services that are critical to those affected by homelessness. A silver key was donated by the Los Encinos School community to further these efforts.

Each LES student interacts with LAFH. For example, in kindergarten students collect coins, meet with the volunteer coordinator from LAFH, and shop for hygiene supplies. An example from Grade 5 is working in the LAFH kitchen to assemble turkey sandwiches (with all the ingredients donated by our families) and serve lunch.  A heartfelt thank you to the LES community for purchasing bed linens and hygiene items as a holiday gift for the 175+ young children residing at LAFH.

Our students participate in a Holiday Workshop to wrap the gifts and decorate banners, while holiday greeting cards are written to active service men and women and distributed by Operation Gratitude.  A simple “Thank You” speaks volumes.