It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Kids and adults alike are getting into that giving spirit and gearing up for the holidays! For many of us, this time of the year brings joy, laughter, family time, and family traditions. Yet for many of us, this can be one of the most stressful times of the year - and for many different reasons. For some, this time of the year brings worry, sadness, and thoughts about how to make this season financially feasible to bring joy to all the children. There’s the worry about how to pay for gifts and how to pay for all the food that accompanies many family traditions.
This is where community can - and does - step in. This year marks the 23rd Annual KBEW/Darling International “You Can Make a Difference” Camp-Out. For the past 22 years, volunteers from our local communities have come together to volunteer their time to collect toys and monetary donations to give back to families right here in our county. In fact, in the past 22 years, this camp-out has raised over $250,000 for our area families! What an incredible statistic to learn how much of an impact this event has had for our local families. Thank you to the men who have generously donated their time to plan and hold this event, all in an effort to help relieve the stress of area families and meet a need, right here in our area.
The camp out is scheduled to take place December 5th-7th in the Juba’s parking lot in downtown Blue Earth. The monetary and food donations go directly to the Faribault County Foodshelf while the new toys donated go to the Western Faribault County toy drive. And, the school district participates in this event as well. Every year, the elementary student council partners with the food shelf, KBEW, and the "You Make A Difference" campaign to help the surrounding communities. Throughout the week of Dec 2-6, students in Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade will be asked to bring in items for the food shelf (including non-perishable food, household items, and monetary donations) as well as new, unwrapped toys for the toy drive. The student council hosts a friendly competition between the classes, with a reward for those classes that donate the most. Students in Grades 1-5 are also asked to write an essay on why we support the food shelf and toy drive. This is a great opportunity for students to think about the impact that we are making in our community.
The week culminates in a program presented to the students in K-5 and also broadcast on KBEW radio. The student council hosts the event, which is full of fun, excitement, and generous hearts. At the program, the student council talks about all the school has accomplished, provides a total amount collected, and announces the classes that have won the competition. One student from each grade level is selected to read his or her essay on the radio and receives a small gift certificate to a local business.
There are so many people to highlight and thank to make an event like this work - the campers for taking time out of their own daily lives to make this event happen, the generous area businesses who host their own friendly competitions to drive up donations, area service clubs for their donations, churches who host their own drives to give to the camp out, BEA Elementary Student Council Advisor Kristin Johnson and her awesome Student Council members, and the awesome citizens of our communities who take the time to shop and stock up so they can drive by the camp out and donate.
Yes, it is indeed the most wonderful time of the year for many of us. For others, it is one of the most stressful times of the year. However, it is because of the community support and generosity of so many of you that we can band together to help alleviate the stress for some and make it closer to the most wonderful time of the year. And we here at BEA see first-hand the impact your generosity has on so many of our students and their families, and for having a hand in bringing them joy and happiness, we emphatically thank you. Happy giving, all!