From left are Hadley Brooker, Sam Gagnon, Tony Phillips and PJ Reiner.
For the past seven years, the fifth graders at Scotland Elementary School have gathered their gently used toys, games, books, furniture, housewares and athletic equipment in hopes of cashing in.
“I love that, even though I’m just eleven years old, I can help feed another family by selling a whole bunch of stuff that I don’t use anymore,” said Olivia Dillon, a fifth grader at the school.
This year’s proceeds from the tag sale will be donated to the Food Pantry of Ridgefield, an organization dedicated to providing relief to families in need of financial assistance.
The “Biggest Tag Sale Ever” will be held, rain or shine, on Saturday, May 9, from 8 to 2 on the Scotland campus, at 111 Barlow Mountain Road.
“There are many seniors and families in town who do not know where their next meals are coming from,” states Ridgefield’s Tony Phillips, director of Social Services. “The stress and anxiety that goes along with the question, ‘How am I going to feed my kids?’ is often unbearable.
The Food Pantry is a resource for many people in town. The pantry allows families in need to “shop” in the storeroom which, on an ideal day, is well-stocked with pasta, soups and canned goods. The pantry also provides these families with Stop and Shop gift cards so that they can obtain perishable items like milk and fresh produce.
Choosing this organization as the recipient of the proceeds from school’s tag sale was not an easy task. “There are so, so many amazing non-profit organizations here in town,” said Cheryl Osher, a fifth grade teacher at Scotland. “It is very important to the teachers at SES to teach their students that they can make a difference and not to wait for someone else to take lead.”
Fifth graders at Scotland have earned over $12,000 for charities over the course of the past six years and hope that this year will be very successful as well.