Nearly every student contributes items to ITSOG, Westminster’s yearly holiday season item donation. Some are motivated by competing against other grades; others by this year’s new reward of a day off of school. But how many are motivated by the thought of the people that these supplies will help?
Susie Brown, Director of Student Life, does a lot of work for ITSOG, including taking the donations to their final destinations.
“We are helping 25 families […] their children go to Saint Louis City schools. We’re providing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for them. […] We took items that we collected for food and we pulled things that they would need for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.” said Brown.
“It’s related to the Little Bit Foundation that we work with […] the Little Bit Foundation goes into the SLC schools, and they’re the ones that identify these families that need food. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have food for the holidays.” said Brown.
Westminster partners with many food pantries, and these organizations work to get food to families who are in need. In addition to the Little Bit Foundation, Westminster partners with another food pantry called Loaves and Fishes.
“One of the other food pantries that we work with is called Loaves and Fishes […] most of their clients are from the 63146 zip code […] there are a lot of people who live in the Marilyn Heights/Bridgeton/Creve Coeur area that have trouble making ends meet and providing food for their families.” said Brown.
Sunshine Ministries is another organization that Westminster gives ITSOG donations to, but they are more than a food pantry. They provide many different opportunities to people who are struggling or in need.
“They provide services to families […] they have a men’s shelter and they have women’s bible studies that they do weekly […] the women come in and they can shop in the store that they’ve created […] and they have gently used items that the ladies that go to the bible study can shop for at a reduced cost. So we’re providing food for them this year for their food pantry, and also cleaning supplies and hygiene products.” said Brown.
Another place supplies go is Kids Mart, an organization that helps teachers provide for their students.
“We also are providing school supplies this year for Kids Mart. Kids Mart allows teachers to go in and shop in their warehouse for school supplies for their students that need things that they don’t have when they come to school.” said Brown.
ITSOG helps benefit families in need, but it also provides Westminster students with a chance to serve others in their community.
“I enjoyed working on ITSOG last year! It was an incredible experience to deliver supplies to the different organizations here in St.Louis. We were able to meet with some leaders of those organizations/charities and we learned about what is it that they do, who they help, how they help, and their mission.” said Isabelle Clawson, sophomore STUCO vice president.
“My favorite part about ITSOG is seeing how our whole community works together to meet a common goal. I hope that our school continues to bless others through the items we collect!” said Clawson.
With ITSOG wrapping up on Friday, STUCO officers will have another opportunity to take the supplies to and serve at the various organizations.
