The Crookston community is perhaps at it’s best during the holiday season, as evidenced by the many generous ways its residents choose to help those in need throughout the community. One area that generosity is evident is at Highland and Washington Schools.
Tara Rodriguez is a Family Service Specialist for the Northwestern Mental Health Center, has her office at Highland School, where, among other things, she coordinates the Backpack Food Program for students at Highland and Washington. She said she wants to make sure people know how much what they do for the families of students is appreciated. “We are so fortunate in Crookston to have people who are super thoughtful,” said Rodriguez. “One of the things that amaze me is that the needs grow every year, but somehow people continue to meet those needs without us even asking. I don’t solicit outside the school for donations or anything because people are always so thoughtful, and they show up for us. I want to make sure people know how much they are used and appreciated.”
One of the areas that families can struggle with is the school lunch balance. Rodriguez said it can be daunting when struggling to not only face a negative balance but worry about how to get a positive balance, but through donations from some “angels,” the schools can bring balances back to zero. “We had a check from Superpumper for our giving tree arrive out of the blue,” said Rodriguez. “We had a former school board member and his wife donated money to the giving tree. One of our angels helped with negative lunch account balances. Sometimes when people get behind on those lunch accounts, it can be daunting to bring those accounts up to zero plus pay for a positive lunch balance. You can see the weight lift off the parent when you say let’s start at zero. We’ll cover the $20 you’re in the hole, and now your money can go to a positive lunch balance. It’s a small thing that makes a really big difference.”
Rodriguez said there is also a couple of generous donors known as “the farmers” who have donated gift cards to help families with over the holidays. “One of the other things that happen for the 13 years I’ve been here now is a couple of gentlemen come in that only want to be referred to as – the farmers,” said Rodriguez. “They donate gift cards that we can use to help families with food or gifts over the holiday season. They have shown up every year. I thought that this year, being what a tough, challenging farm year it was harvest-wise that maybe this wasn’t a year that they could continue that generosity, but they were back again at the end of November. And I’m told to let them remain anonymous, so I’m only able to call them – the farmers – but we definitely appreciate their support.”
Staff at both schools also have a Giving Tree to help families said, Rodriguez. “We have a Giving Tree at Washington and Highland,” said Rodriguez. “There are about 80 tags on them this year. Staff at both schools, from teachers to paras to lunchroom staff, take the tags off the tree and fulfill those wish lists usually with a needed item like a shirt or shocks and a wish list item too, something fun like a game or Legos is a popular item. Every year that tree has grown a little bit. We started by providing about 20 kids gifts ten years ago, and now we probably cover 80-100 kids on every given year.”
The Backpack Food Program, which provides students in need with food every other weekend, also received donations this fall Rodriguez said, “The Running Club donated $500 to the Backpack Food Program, and the Lake Agassiz Study Club sent a generous donation as well. Those kinds of donations are things they thought of on their own and brought to us. It helps us be able to offer that food to go home to kids every other Friday. Sometimes I feel like the keeper of all the good things that happen because people bring them to me, so if I don’t talk about them, I don’t feel like people know all the good that is happening. And I don’t want that to be missed.”
