Thanksgiving Feasts, Packed at Halloween Time

Halloween costumes may have been the desired garb for Auten Road Intermediate students several weeks ago, but Thanksgiving dinner was their goal.

That’s because the sixth graders in Karen Hoffman’s writing classes were packing “feasts in a bag” for a platoon of Marines living without water or electricity in Afghanistan.

“I am thrilled to see a growing sense of patriotism and a sense of pride in being an American,” Hoffman said. “The students are learning that we have a responsibility to those who are keeping us safe and sacrificing many things so that we can live the lives we currently enjoy.”

Hoffman began the project four years ago, selecting a different platoon from www. Adoptaplatoon.org each year. This year, the students began writing and sending care packages in September, and intend to send the packages each month of the school year.

The project stems from showing students a concrete way to use their writing skills, Hoffman said.

“I was looking for a real world application of writing skills that the students would acre about and buy into,” she said. “I just needed to fill out an application and be approved by the adopt a platoon organization.”

The first year’s success led Hoffman to continue the project.

“After seeing the students have such a positive response to the activity and expressing that they really felt like they were making a difference, I decided to continue the program,” she said.

She’ll gather the donations in a variety of ways. Sometimes, she asks local businesses for donations. Other times, the students and their families donate, or other teachers at Auten Road School provide the donations, Hoffman said.

Hoffman introduces each letter-writing unit in a two-week cycle. The first week, she’ll introduce the letter theme and items needed for donations—such as “We’re sticking with you” and having the students collect packs of gum or “Puzzling Pastimes” and sending puzzles— and have the students draft the first paragraphs of their letters. The next week, the students will revise the letters and create final copies, and send their care packages by that Friday.

The most recent project had students sending “Feasts in a Bag” to the platoon they’re supporting this year. The items were specifically chosen to weather the Afghan climate and include turkey jerky, Craisins, potato chips, an apple pie, single-serve drink packs and a festive napkin.

Other times, the students will send items the soldiers specifically need, though the requests sometimes surprise the students. The platoons the students support does not have running water, so the soldiers depend on baby wipes to freshen up, Hoffman said.

“In the past, we had the privilege of having a couple of the soldiers we supported come in and visit our students,” she said. “They talked about how important the baby wipes were since it could be weeks in between showers.”