Alameda schoolchildren spent much of their time over the last two weeks giving back to the community. In addition to supporting those who suffered losses in the North Bay firestorm, the kids have donated food for the hungry and books for those forced to live in shelters after the disaster.

On Nov. 21, two days before Thanksgiving, St. Joseph Elementary School students delivered more than 500 pounds of food to the Alameda Food Bank to help feed those in need this holiday season. 
The Thanksgiving Food Drive is a tradition at St. Joseph Elementary. Yearly the students donate and collect food for the Alameda community.  

Students and staff at a number of Alameda Unified School District schools have continued to organize relief efforts for the North Bay fire victims. Over the years, students at one local elementary school have donated gently used books to students victimized by other disasters and to those living at local shelters. 

Wood Middle School students collected clothing for victims of the fires that devastated the North Bay. Edison Elementary school students also gathered clothing for the needy. Their contributions comprised 685 pairs of socks and 378 pairs of underwear. 

Alameda High School leadership students coordinated with other relief efforts in Alameda to collect donations at the school and then deliver them to those in need.

Bay Farm School students pitched in by collecting more than 700 new and gently used books for students affected by the fires. In recent years, the schools “Library in a Box” program has provided books to students affected by other natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, Super Storm Sandy and fires in Riverside. 

Students in shelters in Alameda and Oakland have also received libraries in boxes from Bay Farm students. These students also created handmade bookmarks, each of which had a note or a picture on it. Roxanne Clement, Bay Farm School’s teacher and librarian, delivered these libraries in boxes to the Sonoma County Office of Education.