Even the heavy, slippery frozen turkeys, which the K-6th grade students gleefully wrestled along the human conveyer belt, made their way down the hall.
The goal, said Central Elementary Principal Stephen Sippel - who Thursday played the energetic cheerleader for the event - is to give each student a literal hand in passing on charity to some of the school’s lower income families.
“It’s a cavalcade of kindness,” said Sippel, who donned a turkey hat for end-of-school day celebration, which included chants of “turkey pass! turkey pass!” and loud cheering and applause.
Middletown Schools Spokeswoman Meggie Bierkan said each food and non-food donation is passed along to school staffers and volunteers in Central’s cafeteria and then packed into customized Thanksgiving boxes, all matching each eligible family’s requested needs.
Lining up with the students was Middletown Superintendent Deborah Houser, who gladly lent a hand.
“This is so exciting. It’s an annual tradition and all the teachers wear their turkey hats. And the older kids partner with the younger kids to help them. It’s truly a wonderful school and community event,” said Houser.
And the tradition is all the more timely this year, said Sippel, as solicitation of donations and collections coincided with the recent federal government shutdown that impacted needy families locally and nationwide who lost their government food assistance.
“While we were organizing the turkey pass this year, it was during the same time as the government shutdown. And so, we were inspired to start our own micro-pantry here at the school that will be an on-going service to our families in need.”
A local church partner is helping create the new pantry, said Sippel, “and we’ve already sent six bags – sort of weekend bags – to our families who are in need.”
“So, we’re always looking for donations of dry goods and canned goods to keep that going and not just during the holidays because people are hungry all year long.”
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