Let’s all take Holly Manges’ lead when it comes to the spirit of giving this festive season.
Holly, eight, has decided to help children less fortunate than herself this Christmas – by collecting more than 200 advent calendars to donate to food banks.
Holly loves Christmas – and the chocolate tucked away inside those advent calendars – and wanted to make sure that other kids could enjoy the season as much as she does.
Holly, of Cotford St Luke, said: ‘I decided on advent calendars because not all families can afford one at Christmas, and every child should look forward to it.
‘It makes me happy thinking of all the children who will now receive a calendar.’
Holly came up with the idea when she was tasked with earning her Charity badge at Brownies, and quickly asked her deputy headteacher at Cotford St Luke Primary School in Taunton, Somerset, for help.
She put up a poster at school asking classmates to donate calendars and within three weeks had collected 215.
She then donated all of these to the Trussell Trust Food Bank in Taunton so they could be handed out to kids whose parents can’t afford festive treats.
Holly’s dad Jamie, 46, said: ‘It just went manic. We were constantly tallying up these advent calendars.
‘Holly would come home from school and there’d be another five or ten left on the front doorstep.
‘We shared the appeal on Facebook and after that we had donations from Swindon, Worcester, and even as far as Scotland.
‘Local businesses and even complete strangers got involved and made donations. Holly was getting really excited.’
Eventually the family had to set a cut-off point for donations as they were receiving so many calendars. Holly had aimed for 50 at first, then 75, then just kept going until she had 215.
‘I think the food bank were a bit overwhelmed when we went down there with all 215 calendars,’ said Jamie.
‘We are really proud of her achievements, and I am sure the foodbank and the families will be very grateful at this time of year.’
Sue Weightman, manager of Taunton food bank, said: ‘We’re very grateful to Holly, and all the other children and groups across Taunton that have generously given vital donations to our food bank.
‘As the colder months close in, like many other food banks we’re approaching our busiest time of the year, so your donations make a huge difference.
‘We’d really encourage anyone considering following Holly’s lead to check what their local food bank is most in need of and donate as soon as possible, so volunteers have enough time to get what you’ve given out to local people in crisis.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/22/eight-year-old-girl-donates-215-advent-calendars-food-bank-11200989/
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