Students throughout the School District of La Crosse have once again offered their time and talents to support the La Crosse Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
Middle and high school students baked hundreds of pumpkin pies this week for the annual community event with elementary students designing table decorations and greeting cards for those attending the dinner.
“Making the pies is a small way to foster a big sense of caring for others,” said Longfellow Middle School family and consumer education teacher Megan Zellner. “It provides our students with an opportunity to make the curriculum relevant while getting to be a part of something bigger than themselves by filling a community need.”
La Crosse students have been baking pies for the La Crosse Community Thanksgiving Dinner for over 25 years. The ingredients and supplies are purchased through a generous donation from the La Crosse Public Education Foundation’s Random Acts of Kindness fund in addition to items donated by staff and student families.
Once the pies have baked and cooled and the decorations are complete, volunteers from the La Crosse Community Thanksgiving Dinner will pick up and transport everything to the La Crosse Center.
“This is amazing and what the dinner is all about,” said president of the La Crosse Community Dinner board of directors Daria Lapp. “It’s truly a community event. We have hundreds of volunteers that help the day of and the day before, but we have many helping behind the scenes that no one knows about. There are kids all over the district making pies, cards, and table decorations. There are students volunteering with their families to deliver dinners to people in the community. It’s just wonderful that kids are volunteering their time to help with this effort.”
The La Crosse Community Thanksgiving dinner will be held on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, at the La Crosse Center. The event runs from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. All are invited to enjoy dinner and the company of friends and neighbors at no cost while helping build community. Each year the event is made possible through the generosity and support of individuals and organizations throughout the Coulee Region.
