It looked like Santa’s sleigh exploded in front of the Millstone Township Primary School on Saturday.
SCOTT FRIEDMAN Karen Kay, Karen Otten and Ellen Stephan, all of Millstone Township, unload bags of donated items at the Millstone Township PTO’s clothing drive at the primary school Nov. 17. For story, see page 3. More than 1,000 big bags full of donated goods piled up on the sidewalk near the school Nov. 17 as community members dropped them off to help the Millstone Township PTO benefit those in need along with educational programming.
“The Millstone community really is very generous,” Jean Mardaga, vice president of the PTO, said. “The drive was very successful. We appreciate everything the community does to help us. And, everything we do absolutely goes back to benefiting the kids.”
The PTO sponsored the clothing drive and asked primary and elementary school students to encourage their relatives, friends and neighbors to donate wearable clothing, handbags, belts, ties and shoes, as well as stuffed animals, comforters and curtains. The PTO asked for the donations to be placed in tied plastic bags and brought to the school’s parking lot between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Nov. 17.
PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Millstone’s Lindajo Mastrangelo and daughter Rebecca, 6, make a donation during the Millstone Township PTO’s clothing drive in front of the primary school. In four hours, the number of bags that the students alone collected totaled 992, according to Mardaga.
“It was crazy and overwhelming at times, but a rewarding experience,” she said.
She continued, “We had a lot of other people from the community that don’t have kids in the schools come and drop things off. The Ladies Auxiliary had a rummage sale that day and dropped bags off, too.”
The PTO will receive 10 cents per every pound of donated goods that it will use toward funding educational programming for the students in the Millstone Township School District.
The PTO kept track of how many bags each class had donated in its name. The class that garnered the most bags will receive an ice cream party, Mardaga said. By press time on Monday, she would not reveal the class that won because it had not yet been notified.
Darrell Vernaci, of Millstone Township, adds another bag of donated goods to the pile that emerged in front of the Millstone Township Primary School Nov. 17. The organization hopes that the students take away a lesson from the experience, according to Mardaga.
“It’s a great thing to help out other people,” Mardaga said. “It’s a nice thing to do around Thanksgiving, and it’s good to give people in need stuff that you are not using.”
Mardaga said four PTO members coordinated the drive on Saturday, including Ellen Stephan and Karen Otten.
The PTO currently has 250 members. The group holds its monthly meetings in the primary school library but will not meet in December. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 15. Dues are $5.
The PTO organizes various fundraisers and special events throughout the year such as Ladies Night Out in April and the spring carnival in May.
Visit www.mtespto.org for additional information.