Warren Students Create Care Packages To Send Overseas To U.S. Troops

WARREN, NJ — Central School 4th and 5th-grade student leaders in Warren Township organized and promoted a school-wide fundraiser in support of Operation Shoebox during the week of Jan. 9.

Operation Shoebox is an organization dedicated to collecting donated supplies and shipping
care packages to U.S. troops based in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries around the world.

To select the fundraising initiative, the Student Leaders discussed their top priorities.

Conveniently, many students shared a desire to fundraise for Operation Shoebox.

Ghina AlJadda, a 5th-grade student leader, shared, "It’s an important fundraiser because we got to help American troops. It was cool to see our project help so many people."

In an effort to promote the event, Student Leaders hung up posters throughout the school and made visits to classrooms to share the details of the fundraiser. To add a fun twist, Student Leaders sorted the items at recess and kept a running tally of the daily number of donations by grade.

5th grade came out victorious with over 500 items donated during the week.

On Jan. 18, Rod Hirsch, the Executive Director of Operation Shoebox (NJ branch), picked up more than 3,000 items from Central School, including deodorant, soap, batteries, sunscreen,
toothpaste, socks, granola bars, and other essential items.

Hirsch was thrilled with the quality and quantity of the donations and was eager to continue a partnership with the Central School community.

Group Leader Ms. Alyssa Pech would like to thank the amazing families, students, and teachers
who donated to the event. For more information on Operation Shoebox or to donate, visit their
website at opshoeboxnj.org.

— Submitted by Warren Township Schools