Students at Lockwood Elementary School in Bothell presented two checks for $665 each to representatives from Hopelink and the Backpacks for Kids program at their final school assembly June 21. The gifts were the proceeds from the school’s inaugural rummage and plant sale in May. Sponsored by the Lockwood PACE program’s Service Learning Committee, the sale provided low-cost used and new items to shoppers, as well as an array of native plant starts for landscaping. It also demonstrated local recycling, and resulted in a substantial donation of unsold items to Goodwill.

Backpacks for Kids, headed by Cecilia Shumate, is a Northshore School District program that provides backpacks and school supplies to children in need within the district. Hopelink provides food, housing and other assistance to people in the community. The sale represented the first such partnership between the school and these agencies. It also provided an opportunity for students to learn the connection between passing on what they no longer need and helping meet the needs of their neighbors. One of the mottoes of the sale was, “De-clutter, Help Another.”

Jason Puz, representing Hopelink at the assembly, commented,  “It’s always fantastic to see a community of elementary-school students as philanthropic and generous as those at Lockwood Elementary. Truly they have shown that when a community comes together the individuals have the power to accomplish amazing things.”