Since 2004, TCPS students have banded together to create positive change through their collaborative work. An all school assembly was held in the fall of 2004 to launch an ongoing commitment to helping our students develop a spirit of philanthropy. During the assembly, TCPS students talked about the meaning of community and the responsibility of members of a community. We decided that we had a responsibility to help and support the concerns of all of our communities.
Since its beginning, TCPS students have continued philanthropic efforts by selecting a new organization or cause and committing themselves for the academic year.
Last school year, 2019-2020, we chose 3 groups to support.
- Feeding San Diego: “Together we can end hunger. Now more than ever.” Feeding San Diego is a local branch of the national organization Feeding America. Feeding San Diego is on a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. Through our decentralized food recovery and distribution model, every dollar donated helps provide four meals to people in need. They welcome volunteers as well as donations. Their BackPacks for Kids program is an effort to help students take home food for their families over the weekend along with other initiatives for children, families, seniors, veterans and more.
- Think Dignity is another local group which “focuses on advancing basic dignity for those living on the streets. We strive to fill gaps and provide services which are otherwise unavailable.” Gr. 3 held a sock drive and donated the socks to Think Dignity. The TCPS Student Council also donated funds they raised through the TCPS Student Store, a bake sale, a special hot chocolate sale, and a special Peeps sale.
- Project Concern International “(PCI) is a global development organization that drives innovation from the ground up to enhance health, end hunger and overcome hardship—resulting in meaningful and measurable change in people’s lives. “ Gr. 5 donated their earnings from their student-run business, “The Coffee Cup”, to PCI. The TCPS Student Council also donated funds they raised through the TCPS Student Store, a bake sale, a special hot chocolate sale, and a special Peeps sale.
Some of our previous Community Outreach efforts included:
- Education: TCPS students raised money to help children around the world obtain an education. Each classroom researched opportunities to help children locally and globally and selected a charity to support. The kindergarten and first grade class raised money for Pennies for Peace, the second and third grade raised money and supplies for Monarch School, the fourth and fifth grade class raised money for Ponheary Ly Foundation, and the middle school students raised money for Blue Tarp School. The Canton Patulup Primero Santo Tomas School in Chichicastenango, Guatemala, where we provided Internet access for the primary and secondary students, as well as the surrounding community.
- Heifer International: Raising money to send girls to school and purchase animals for families in South America as a sustained method of healing the global problem of hunger.
- WE. (Women’s Empowerment): A San Diego non-profit that provides small business loans to the poorest women of the world to tackle the problem of extreme poverty.
- The Sunshine Ranch is a local non-profit organization whose mission is “to provide accessible, high-quality instruction in therapeutic horsemanship to improve the physical, mental, and social activities of children and adults with special needs.” Our Kindergartners and Gr. 1 collected and recycled plastic bottles, and gave the proceeds to this organization. The TCPS Student Council also donated funds they raised through the TCPS Student Store, a bake sale, a special hot chocolate sale, and a special Peeps sale.L