Written by Chitra Sharma
With the initiative of food donation, Preschool time had an added event every school day. During preschool, teacher Beth would explain about Hopelink, food donations and their purpose. Then she would add up the latest donations and declare an updated grand total. When the time to drop off the donations arrived, the grand total reached a whopping 550 items.
Finally, the donation day arrived with some of the preschoolers and their families going to the Hopelink food bank. Visiting the food bank, a first time for some of us turned out to be a great learning experience.
After the donation, few families stayed back at the Juanita Beach park for some more fun. Children had a blast playing in the park. The sun was shining bright on this fall day which made the afternoon perfect. With great reluctance, the kids finally agreed to wrap up beach play time. All the families headed back home, eagerly looking forward to meeting everyone in a bit for the soup night.
A beautiful sunset greeted everyone making their way towards the preschool that evening. As we entered the preschool teacher Beth greeted everyone with a warm smile. Wafting through the air, was a mix of a rich, intense aroma, an aroma of cuisines from around the globe weaved together through multiple cultures, evolving with families and finally landing upon the preschool tables, ready to be consumed by the kids, the parents.
Although one parent would typically be at the school once a week, having the bigger family in one room was a rare moment that brought our preK families together. It was a great opportunity for connecting with other families, strengthening the community and of course, tasting multiple cuisines from the BFCP family. Once supper was wrapped up, the parents and kids came together to quickly clean up and set the school back to how it was an hour earlier.
Finally, the customary circle time took place with teacher Beth introducing every family to everyone else. And then, it was time to go. With heavy hearts and full stomachs, slowly each family strode back into their vehicles to end the beautiful soup-er night!