Watkinson School’s Student Foundation led the 14th Annual Turkey Drive which donated 160 Turkeys to Hartford’s United Methodist Church.

Watkinson School Turkey Drive. Submitted photo

Submitted by Kimberly Bigelow, Watkinson School

Watkinson School leads an annual turkey drive and donates the proceeds to the Food Pantry at the United Methodist Church , 571 Farmington Ave., Hartford, Connecticut. This year the Turkey Drive took place on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Student Foundation Director Andrew Aavatsmark (West Hartford) and club Leaders Lily Chen  (Windsor) and Charity Hilliman (Hartford), both members of the senior class, organized this year’s turkey drive. During the months of September through November, Watkinson School collects canned goods and also collects money for the drive.

The entire school is divided into advisory groups and each individual group is assigned a food to bring in. As Thanksgiving nears, the Student Foundation gathers the various foods that have been donated by all of the advisory groups and brings it to the United Methodist Church.

At the church, the students and faculty members prepare food bags (a variety of canned goods and turkey). In the afternoon, working with staff from United Methodist Church, food bags are distributed to needy families.

Club Leader Lily Chen proudly stated, “The Student Foundation’s goal is to always try and help people outside of Watkinson School.” Lily continued, “Back at my high school in China, we mainly focused on academics, but at Watkinson community service is important.” Community service is a significant part of the Watkinson School’s culture. The Student Foundation teaches students the importance of community service and illustrates this by giving back to the community of Hartford.

Watkinson School, a co-educational day school for grades 6-PG, was founded in 1881 and is Hartford’s oldest independent school.  Watkinson’s next open house for prospective students is December 7 at 8:30 a.m.

Watkinson School Turkey Drive. Submitted photo

Watkinson School Turkey Drive. Submitted photo