Set the table, supper’s coming.
Mountain View Lutheran School students want to bring Thanksgiving blessings to the Las Vegas community by collecting meal fixings for struggling families served by Lutheran Social Services of Nevada LSSN).
Students at Mountain View Lutheran, Nevada’s only elementary school with both WASC and National Lutheran Schools Accreditation, will hold their 4 th annual “scavenger hunt,” pitting three preschool classes and six elementary school grades against one another to collect nonperishable Thanksgiving food items such as instant potatoes, canned yams, beans, sweet potatoes, boxed stuffing and bottled water for LSSN’s food pantry.
LSSN, a nonprofit group, has provided compassionate human services to low-income seniors, individuals and families in Southern Nevada for more than 22 years. During the COVID-19- triggered business shutdowns earlier this year, LSSN kept local at-risk families fed by supplying them with hundreds of emergency food boxes packed with dry foods, canned goods, meats, bread, vegetables and fruit.
On the morning of Nov. 16, Mountain View Lutheran students will walk through neighborhoods, leaving bags on doorsteps for residents to fill with food. The students will go back to their neighborhoods the morning of Nov. 19 to collect the bags. Student teams will receive a point for each food item they collect. The winning team gets bragging rights and, more importantly, the satisfaction of a good deed done.
The general public can join the food drive by dropping off food in bins at the school, 9550 W Cheyenne Ave or at LSSN, 4323 Boulder Hwy.
The annual Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt was created by MVLS Preschool Director Donna Einspahr, who said the students have enjoyed helping their neighbors and are particularly glad to do so now, when the pandemic has made the need more acute.
“I wanted to create an interactive way for our students to engage with their surrounding community. It’s a fun for them and it’s a good cause,” she said. “A satisfying experience all around.”
In previous years, the school has received 150 to 200 food donations to offer Thanksgiving to struggling families. Due to the COVID pandemic, this year’s goal is to stock LSSN’s pantry as the need for food is considerable higher than pre-COVID.
“We have been serving hundreds of families every single week since the beginning of the pandemic. As the holidays approach, more families in need will be looking to agencies like LSSN for help than previous years,” said Armena Mkhitaryan, executive director, Lutheran Social Services of Nevada. “We want to support as many families as we can, and we are thankful for the students at Mountain View Lutheran School and their neighboring community for their support.”
About Mountain View Lutheran School Mountain View Lutheran’s elementary school features co-curriculars including instruction in the visual and performing arts and computer/library for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, and sign language instruction for third to fifth grade students.
Core-subject teaching lets students learn widely and advance quickly. In math, for example, fifth-graders can enter accelerated learning in the second semester and regularly qualify for prealgebra for the sixth grade. Social studies lessons start local and widen. Fourth-graders study Nevada history; fifth-graders focus on American history.
Mountain View Lutheran School also offers a full-time preschool for children ages 2 to 5. It has openings for children starting at age 2, as well as full-day and half-day preschool for 3-year-old and up. For enrollment information or to view a virtual tour or schedule an in-person tour, please visit mvlcs.org/school or mvlcs.org/preschool for information. About Lutheran Social Services of Nevada
For over 24 years Lutheran Social Services of Nevada (LSSN) has been providing compassionate human services to low-income seniors, individuals and families in urban-core areas of Southern Nevada. Our mission is to express the love of Christ by serving and caring for people in need. Although Lutheran-based, LSSN is open and inclusive in the services we offer. We have an extensive nondiscrimination policy, which applies to our employment policies and service delivery.
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