Children taking part in community service

Learning through participation

Archived reports describe P.S. 40 students planting daffodils and participating in care for nearby public spaces. Other entries document children volunteering with the Gramercy Park Block Association to serve holiday meals and making cards for members of the community.

Helping with the work itself

The September 2014 service retrospective shows the Children’s Community Service Committee sorting books for children in shelters, hospital pediatric units and daycare centers. It also records committee members helping serve holiday dinner at Kenmore Hall and delivering toys with the building’s staff.

A December 2014 letter shows children at St. George’s making signs and cards in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner.

Shared spaces, shared responsibility

The Block Association’s program record also describes an annual cleanup of Augustus St. Gaudens Playground at East 20th Street and Second Avenue. Families cleaned equipment and other fixtures with help from a professional power-washing team.

The cleanup took place in the public playground. Read about the Block Association’s community-service work.

The earlier 2005 P.S. 40 partnership brought school and neighborhood representatives together with Parks officials to discuss improvements.

2005

Thanks made by hand

The December 2005 report followed Eliza and Alexander from the Children’s Community Service Committee as they delivered homemade pies and cards to the Park caretakers and Emergency Service Unit Truck 1. Later that day, the Block Association brought a holiday dinner to officers on duty.

The children also helped serve the Christmas meal at Kenmore Hall that December. The newspaper reported more than one hundred residents attending, with toys from Paddy Maguire’s annual drive offered for residents to give to their families.

2015

Books sorted by younger neighbors

The December 2015 newsletter again showed the Children’s Community Service Committee sorting donated books for children reached through the holiday-service network.