On Saturday December 5 at 7 am, the Rotary Club of Shoreline met with the principal to sponsor a “Shopping Spree” for 25 needy students from Briarcrest Elementary. This is an annual partnership among the Shoreline School District, the Rotary Club of Shoreline (Tuesday lunch group), J C Penney and the Dale Turner YMCA of Shoreline.
According to Ron Hansen, President of the Rotary Club of Shoreline, the Shoreline School District selects the elementary school and the 25 students to be sponsored each year. The Rotary Club of Shoreline provides the money and shopping chaperons to assist each child during the “shopping spree.” The Dale Turner YMCA of Shoreline provides transportation from the school to J C Penney in the Alderwood Mall and also provided six shopping chaperons. J C Penney provides super discounts, gifts and any other required assistance to the students and their shopping chaperons. Rick Ferrell, Rotarian and retired Shoreline general contractor, has supervised this project for the past several years with Rotary volunteers. Bill MacCully, Rotarian past president, said “Shopping with kids is a great way to kick off the Christmas season.”
Each child is allocated $100 but, usually because of the deep discounts by J C Penney, the students receive from $200 to $250 in clothing, coats, shoes, accessories and other merchandise. After the shopping spree, the students are treated to an outing at McDonalds.
Jonathan Nessan, principal of Briercrest said “Our families are being impacted by the current economy and it is truly a blessing to have new clothing for our students.”
Rotary has an ongoing connection with Briarcrest, donating school supplies in the fall, helping with grounds clean-up during the year, and providing tutors all year long.
For more information about Rotary, contact Tyler Johnson, membership chair, at 206-363-3921 or visit the website.
Photo; YMCA and Rotary volunteers board the shopping bus with Briarcrest students. Courtesy of Jan Hansen.