当地家庭为地区家庭组装感恩节篮子

萨拉-斯泰克（Sara Staker）是普罗沃学校五名学生的母亲，她在制作第一个感恩节餐篮时并不知道自己有一天会开创社区服务的年度传统。正如 Sara 所说，最初她只是半信半疑地希望能为一个家庭提供一顿饭。

萨拉的大儿子今年已经 23 岁了，但在 17 年前，他还只是 Westridge 小学的一年级学生。那一年，萨拉有好几次机会去儿子的班级做学生的助手，其中很多学生都面临着比其他人更具挑战性的环境。

“You can’t help but notice that some kids don’t have warm coats or boots for winter,” Sara noted. “You can’t help but notice when some of those same students seem more desperate to win games with gifts and food prizes than others.”

As a parent, Sara had a firsthand account of the economic discrepancies between students. So, rather than accepting that knowledge passively, she took action. After speaking to Westridge’s receptionist, Sara and the school coordinated to offer a basket full of Thanksgiving food for a family needing a Thanksgiving Dinner.

Sara’s family gathered turkey, potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, stuffing, rolls, cranberry jelly, a pumpkin pie with whip cream and a bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider to organize a basket to be anonymously gifted. That year, one Westridge family in need celebrated Thanksgiving with a little more than they expected, thanks to Sara and her family.

几年来，Staker 一家一直延续着他们的传统，只制作一个感恩节篮子，交给学校送给社区里需要帮助的家庭。他们甚至从邻居那里收集捐款，并在 Westridge 设置了一个食品储藏室，作为她儿子的鹰童子军项目。从食物储藏室的频繁使用情况来看，萨拉知道需求比许多人可能意识到的更为广泛。

Eventually, Sara and her family began volunteering weekly with the Five.12 Foundation, an organization delivering weekend backpack meals full of food for children from families experiencing food scarcity. Sara and her husband Matt delivered close to thirty meals to Westridge elementary each week that first year. Knowing that number made Sara want to do more for the children at her school.

于是她想到了一个主意。她联系了几位朋友、邻居和家人，她知道这样的要求并不过分，于是他们一起为 Westridge 的 30 个孩子制作了 30 个感恩节餐篮。从那时起，她的小行动就越做越大。

"我们厨房里挂着一块木牌。上面写着：'当你拥有的多于你所需要的时候，要建造更长的桌子，而不是更高的围栏'。'我们一直努力秉承这一理念，在我们的家庭中营造一种管理和服务文化，但事实上，它已经在我们的社区中得到了广泛的分享和实践。"

最后，萨拉意识到，他们可以在大观社区召集更多的人，为普罗沃市学区更多的家庭提供食物。几年前，他们增加了富兰克林小学，现在还为迪克森中学提供服务。

斯泰克家的一个儿子创建了一个 Sign-Up-Genius 网页，用于发布篮子所需材料的请求和组织社区捐赠。全区的家庭很快就会为篮子送来食物和钱，所以通常只需要一两天的时间就能把篮子装满。Sara 的家人会将剩余的资金直接开具支票给每所学校的食品储藏室。

篮子装好后交给各学校的社工和教师志愿者，由他们将篮子送到有需要的家庭。

在我们简短的采访中，萨拉想重申的是，这个故事是关于普罗沃的。

“Throughout November, I have a renewed faith in humanity. Because it’s not just our family providing all these meals; It’s the community. It’s neighbors helping neighbors. Families helping other families. We have so many people who care but just don’t know how to connect with the people that need help.

“I love that we are part of a community that will gather together and care for our own. It’s more than the meals; It’s the gesture.”

The Stakers hope that other families at other schools across Provo might feel the nudge to do something similar.

有意捐赠者，请联系您所在的学校，了解如何向学校的食品储藏室捐赠。如果您想为迪克森的新 "黑豹食品储藏室 "捐款，请访问 t继承人捐赠页面 .您可以通过亚马逊愿望清单订购所列物品，也可以将捐赠物品送到总办公室。

如果您需要卫生用品、食品或学习用品，请联系学校，找您的社会工作者。他们随时愿意伸出援手。