Baldwin Schools Give Back and Spread Kindness This Holiday Season

Toy Drives, Food Drives, and Fundraisers Galore!

Acts of kindness and generosity have been plentiful this holiday season within the Baldwin Union Free School District. From community drives to fundraisers, students, their families and staff have come together to give back to those in need.

Brookside Elementary School

Brookside Elementary School held their annual Turkey Trot to kick off their donation drive. This year, Brookside collected goods, from toiletries to clothing, for residents of the Bethany House, a not-for-profit that supports women and women with children who experiencing homelessness and/or are transitioning to a stable household.  

Lenox Elementary School

Lenox Elementary School held a toy drive to support The John Theissen Children’s Foundation, which provides hospitals and child-care facilities with therapeutic and recreational equipment, supports families with financial assistance to defray medical expenses, offers sick and needy children toys throughout the holiday season, and more.

In addition, Lenox provided holiday meal assistance to families in need within the Lenox community. 

Meadow Elementary School

Meadow Elementary School also held a school-wide toy drive and fundraiser to support Meadow families in need. The families and staff contributed to the fundraiser, raising over $1,000, which provided toys, clothes, gift cards and holiday meals for the 16 adopted families.

Plaza Elementary School

The Plaza Elementary School community made it a priority to help those in the Baldwin community through their annual coin drive – “Change for Change.” During the week of November 15, students were encouraged to bring in coins for a fundraiser that helped to give back to those in the community. During lunch each day, students dropped off dimes, nickels, quarters, and dollar bills.Nearly $400 was collected and donated to purchase Stop 'n Shop gift cards for families in need from the Baldwin community.

Baldwin Middle School

The Baldwin Middle School Student Government Officers hosted a toy drive to benefit the SoMWA (Survivors of Mothers With AIDS) foundation. After creating a flyer and an informative video on the importance of giving during the season, the students collected an abundance of toys.

Baldwin High School

Multiple ways of collecting ‘goods’ took place at the high school.

The Baldwin High School Class of 2023 held a food drive to benefit the Parish of St. Christopher food pantry. The students collected a truck load full of items to donate, including baby wipes, diapers, canned goods and toilet paper!

Additionally, for December, the Class of 2023 collected books for the Book Fairies, a non-profit that collects and distributes new and gently used books to under-resourced communities across Long Island and New York City.

Once again, the varsity girls volleyball raised money for Sunrise Day Camp, a non-profit that helps children with cancer. This year, the student-athletes presented a check for $900 to the camp representatives.

In addition, Baldwin High School’s Virtual Enterprise companies Poppify and OneWorld joined together to hosted a toy drive. This year, donations went to Plaza Elementary School. 

Baldwin HS@Shubert

Students at Baldwin High School@Shubert used their career and technical education skills to give back to the Bethany House. The Barbering class styled wigs donated by the local non-profit, Hair We Share, while the Police Science students helped the women currently residing at the Bethany House with their resumes—all of which help these families get back on their feet. The story caught the attention of several media outlets, including CBS, News 12 and Newsday.