Last Friday night Concord Elementary School held “Holiday Shop”, an annual event in which kids can participate in various holiday-themed activities.
The event, which took place in the Concord Elementary school gym, ran from 4:30 to 7:30 P.M. The main attraction of the event was the holiday shop itself, which ran for 3 different sessions. These shopping sessions were at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30. During those times kids, assisted by a volunteer, could purchase gifts and goods from the several stands set up in the gym. Each stand had gifts specified for a certain relative. The stands contained gifts for Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Grandmas and Grandpas ,etc. Kids could even buy gifts and toys for their pets. Some of the several items sold at these stands included toys, balls, posters, jewelry, stuffed animals, pencils, and many more items.
The Shop itself was not the only one of the several activities that kids could participate in during the event. In the cafeteria of the school, there were several snacks and drinks that the kids could have, like pizza and Sweet Frog frozen yogurt. Also in the cafeteria was a sand art station, where kids could fill up different cases shaped as various holiday items with many different colors of sand. In the LGI room kids could watch holiday movie classics,the selection included Frosty the Snowman, Rudolf the Red-nose Reindeer, and several more. Some kids also played basketball in the gym during the later hours of the shop.
“I think it’s amazing because I get to work with little kids and be a part of the community” says volunteer Michael Felcher, when asked how he feels about his job and what his favorite part of it is. Michael Felcher is one of the many students and adults from the Garnet Valley community who decided to spend their Friday afternoon setting up and volunteering at the holiday shop. Out of the many students and adults participating, a large amount of them were part of the Interact club, a club at Garnet Valley High School that creates or participates in several charity events throughout the school year.
Aside from the holiday shop, Concord Elementary school has been known to host several family-friendly events like the holiday shop throughout the year, with one of their biggest events being the annual Ice-Cream social, where parents and kids can talk and play while enjoying ice cream. Concord has also run several charity drives throughout the school year. These would include the winter coat drive for Cradles to Crayons, where kids give their old articles of clothing, like socks, coats and winter hats, to children in homeless situations within the Philadelphia area. Another charity event hosted by Concord is Soles for Souls, a drive in which children give their old pairs of shoes to people in need of them. So far, about 700 pairs of shoes have been donated to the Soles for Souls program, and many more are expected to be donated.