“Love in a Box” Reaches Out to Local Children

by Ann LoBue

(Febraury 15, 2007) Gaily decorated boxes filled with small gifts from large hearts were passed out along with bags of groceries by the Larchmont / Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force on February 13. Students in grades K-5 at Murray Avenue School made these one-of-a-kind creations as surprise gifts for boys and girls ages 2 to 11 whose families receive assistance from the food pantry.

Murray students carefully crafted expressions of caring.

“It is a real treat for our clients to receive something special around a day like Valentine’s Day,” said Sarah Duffy-Edwards, vice president of the food pantry. “We are always thrilled when we can give them something besides the food staples – pasta, rice and vegetables – they regularly receive.”

The project was led by Love in a Box, a local group originally organized to send support to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the Murray PTA’s Community Outreach Committee. The effort was part of Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 12-16.

Parent volunteers transported over 300 boxes to the food pantry. Boxes came in every shape and size and were adorned with everything from colorful paper, stickers, drawings and ribbons to shells and feathers. Their contents included small items such as markers, books, playing cards, beaded bracelets, fuzzy socks, stuffed animals, notepads and toy cars.

Many children included a note or card in their box to say: I care and I am thinking of you.

“Dear Girl,” wrote one first grader, “I hope you like all the Goodies. I am 6. How old are you? What is your name? I hope your [sic] happy.”

Leigh-Ann Pieragostini’s first grade class displays its Love in Box creations.

“When you watch a young child decorate a box and choose the items to go inside, carefully considering the imagined recipient’s wishes and reactions, you know the project has been a success,” said Love in a Box co-founder Linda Ryan, whose sons attend kindergarten and third grade at Murray. “They have learned how to care about someone else and how to show the other person that they care.”

Several teachers turned Love in a Box into a classroom project. “I felt that this project was a great way for the children to understand how important it is to help others that aren’t as fortunate as they are,” explained first grade teacher Leigh-Ann Pieragostini. “My class had a hard time understanding that there are people that live around them that need help. Most of my students thought they had a hurricane and that is why we were making the boxes. We had a wonderful conversation about it, though, and I think they started to understand how children around them in Larchmont and Mamaroneck can also be deprived from a lot.”

The Larchmont/Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force provides food bi-weekly to approximately 230 local families in need of food assistance, including about 250 children. “Our clients are our neighbors in Larchmont and Mamaroneck: families who after paying the high cost of living expenses in our area often find they do not have enough left over for food,” explained Ms. Duffy-Edwards.

In 2006, Love in a Box delivered close to 1,200 boxes to children displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Ms. Ryan was on hand when the boxes were delivered in Slidell and Baton Rouge, Louisiana last year and witnessed the profound impact these unique gifts had on their young recipients (see:"Love in a Box" Reaches School Children in Louisiana).

Ms. Ryan explained why Love in a Box chose to focus on the local community this year. “Disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami of 2005 tend to push people to respond, but the opportunity to reach out to others exists every day and all around us. Love in a Box gives kids a chance to show other kids they care.”

Ann LoBue volunteers with the Murray Avenue School PTA.

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