Students at the Louise A. Conley Elementary School in Whitman raised money for the Whitman Food Pantry and Whitman Animal Control this month. Students are pictured delivering the money, as well as holiday cards, to the Food Panty. (Photo courtesy Whitman-Hanson Regional School District) 
Millie Mahoney, a student from the Conley Elementary School in Whitman, helps deliver holiday cards to the Whitman Senior Center. (Photo courtesy Whitman-Hanson Regional School District) 
Students at the Louise A. Conley Elementary School in Whitman raised money for the Whitman Food Pantry and Whitman Animal Control this month. Students are pictured delivering the money, as well as holiday cards, to the Food Panty. (Photo courtesy Whitman-Hanson Regional School District)
WHITMAN — Superintendent Jeffrey Szymaniak and Louise A. Conley Elementary School Principal Karen Downey are pleased to report that Conley School Students raised hundreds of dollars for local organizations as part of a new fundraiser this month.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school’s typical Thanksgiving celebration needed to be cancelled this year, but in its place the school held a special fundraiser, “A Dollar for Dinner, a Penny for Paws,” to raise money for the Whitman Food Pantry and Whitman Animal Control.
Students raised $584 for the Whitman Food Pantry and $567.64 for Whitman Animal Control. The funds were matched by the school’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC), meaning each organization received over $1,100.
In addition, one of the school’s longtime friends, Sandy McCarthy, presented the school with yet another matching donation from her company, AEW Capital Management, to add to the gift.
Students at the school also made cards for the Whitman Senior Center and the town’s first responders that were delivered this week.
“I am so humbled by the generosity of our community, but even more so by the commitment and feeling behind it,” Principal Downey said. “Our students made beautiful cards that were delivered to both the Food Pantry and to the Senior Center. They worked diligently to make something special, something that anyone would be honored to receive. This is what we are all about. Yes, we want our kids to work hard every day, but more importantly we want them to be good neighbors, good friends, and good citizens.”
Typically on the Friday before Thanksgiving, Conley Elementary School celebrates together in a school-wide assembly with invited guests from the Whitman Food Pantry and Whitman Animal Control. Every year, each student is asked to bring in one item that will fill their classroom basket with a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need in the community. Students talk about the “power of one,” about how one small can added to another small can add up to a very special meal.
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