Thanks to our caring volunteers who braved cold weather to help distribute school supplies, food and clothing to our families at W.G. Pearson Elementary. It was a rare treat to see (behind masks) our favorite scholars, their families and staff at our adopted school W.G. Pearson. Lots of families participated and went home with supplies and well wishes for learning during these challenging times.

We hope things will return to normal very soon. We received this nice note from the school:
We just wanted to say "thank you" to Creekside Cares for assisting us with the remote learning kit and food distribution on yesterday! It was a big success as we had a lot of parents to drive up, and your volunteers were tremendous!! Your help in setting up a SignUp Genius on short notice made all the difference. 
We look forward to getting back to somewhat of a normalcy as soon as allowed. Community support and schools go hand in hand, and we appreciate everything you all do to assist us at WG! We have attached a few pictures for you to share and your records. Thank you again, we will talk soon.
Delbert Jarmon, W.G. Pearson Elementary
 

As John Maxwell said, "Teamwork is at the heart of all great achievement." Today, we received our official volunteer service awards from the Triangle Nonprofit and Leadership Center in a drive-through ceremony. Back in January of this year, we were nominated by Alan Slavin of W.G. Pearson Elementary, and were notified we received one of the Durham County Awards. Each of the 100 counties in North Carolina puts forward one nominee as a Medallion Nominee. This nomination process is done secretly and the County winners do not know who has been nominated for the Medallion Award. Governor Roy Cooper and his team review the nominations from each county and select 20 statewide Medallion winners from the 100 nominees submitted. Creekside Cares was selected as the winner in Durham County. This is a great honor and testimony to the teamwork and dedication of the entire Creekside Community.

Here is Mr. Slavin's nomination:
"Creekside Cares is a service club within Creekside at Bethpage, a 55+ residential community. Creekside Cares began serving W.G. Pearson Elementary School in Durham in 2018. Each week, dozens of Creekside volunteers visit the school to help with regular and special events. In 2018 and 2019, Creekside Cares organized a school supply drive through social media and an online signup. When Pearson's food pantry lacked funding, they created a partnership with the Interfaith Food Shuttle to deliver 35 bags of meals. In one school year, they delivered 9,030 meals to at risk students, and in the summer of 2019 hosted a nonperishable food drive, collecting over 1,500 cans of food. Creekside Cares worked with school officials to spearhead a cold-weather clothing drive. With more items received then were immediately needed, they obtained shelving supplies and installed a coat closet. Their volunteers supported our outdoor classroom and the Engineering & Gardening Club by building wheelbarrows, picnic tables and planting beds, and improving our chicken coop. They worked with the district office to install a router at the school to hook the system up to Weather Underground and delivered a lecture to teach students about the weather station and meteorology. For the last two years, they have given holiday gifts to more than 60 children from 29 families and last year volunteers provided a buffet breakfast for 90 members of staff at W.G. Pearson. One volunteer brings a service/therapy dog, Sally, and "Reading to Sally" has become very popular. Over the last year, they logged over 2,000 volunteer hours."

Ordinarily, the awards would have been presented at an award ceremony and luncheon with Governor Roy Cooper. The Covid-19 pandemic put those plans on hold and ultimately cancelled them completely. Once it is safe to do so, Creekside Cares will host our own celebration in honor of this achievement.

We will frame our certificate, and display it in Hemingway Hall in the near future.  Way to go Creekside Cares!

Creekside is the most amazing and giving community. We were able to reach and exceed our goal of donating a set of earbuds and dry erase markers for every single student at W.G. Pearson Elementary. It was a lofty goal, but we did it! Each of the 475 students will now have some of the essential tools required for the remote learning.

Our residents' generosity also enabled us to give extra items to another Title I school in the area, Fayetteville Street Elementary. The students, faculty, staff and families of these two schools are very appreciative and thank all who donated.

Even though we begin our year with remote learning, the students at W.G. Pearson are always special to us! We hope everyone will stay safe, study hard and remember we love you. #CreeksideCaresAboutWGPearson

2020 is no normal year. Our beloved students at W.G. Pearson Elementary will be returning to school on Monday, August 17, 2020 but it will be at least 9 weeks of virtual learning. To answer this unique experience, school officials have requested only 2 items this year for our annual school supply drive. We will be requesting earbuds with microphones and fine tip, low-odor dry erase markers for all 475 students at the school. Please read more about the details on our SignUp Genius. As always, we appreciate your support. This year we have also decided to share any surplus with students at Fayetteville Street Elementary, another Title I school in Durham.

Creekside Cares has been partnering with Mr. Mitchell Wilson and Ms. Erika Luke in the school's outdoor classroom. Each week on Tuesdays, a group of dedicated Creekside Cares volunteers mentor students who participate in the school's Garden and Engineering Club. These students learn about the school's working vegetable garden, beehives, chicken coop and more. The lovely outdoor classroom features walking trails, a presentation area and opportunities to learn about forestry, the world around us and teamwork. Our volunteers have been dedicated to helping Mr. Wilson and Ms. Luke complete tasks on their plan.

The working chicken coop is a favorite with students and teachers. The coop was contained within a very small space and the chickens were not free to roam. Ms. Luke who leads this part of the outdoor classroom had hoped the fence would be installed during an annual event hosted by a local corporation. The plans were not able to be completed and upon hearing this our volunteers jumped into action. Thanks to our volunteers and a wonderful local vendor, Allied Fence Co, the W.G. Pearson Chickens have a new 20x20 fence. Allied Fence generously donated a beautiful, professionally installed fence. They were incredible to work with and have gifted the school and students with a lasting structure. The new chicken habitat will make for happier chickens and safer students. Everyone will have more space to walk around and learn. Thank you to Tony and Kelly Crain and Allied Fence! Our hearts are overflowing!

We have plans for a ribbon cutting ceremony soon. Watch this space for details.

We conducted our very first Christmas Cheer Up at WG Pearson Elementary. We hosted a SignUpGenius for students and family members within the WG Pearson Community who were identified by school officials as requiring some Christmas Cheer Up. Many Creekside residents stepped up and purchased clothing items and toys to make the holidays a little brighter. We wrapped and delivered our gifts to the school on December 18 and the families were able to have something special under the tree on Christmas morning. 
Thanks to everyone who participated. Your kindness and generosity made a huge difference to 28 families. Way to go Creekside Blue Belles and the greater Creekside at Bethpage Community. #CreeksideCares

Our volunteers have been making a difference at the WG Pearson Elementary Food Pantry. The shelves had not been organized in quite some time. We have made huge progress in removing expired canned goods; organizing shelves; and creating a new plan to keep track of the backpacks used in the Backpack Buddies Program.

We will soon need weekly volunteers to stuff the backpacks and deliver them to the students' classrooms on Fridays. We hope every hungry child will have a backpack to ensure they have something to eat each weekend.
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  We want to make a difference in our local community. We have adopted WG Pearson Elementary School. This school is a Title I school and 100% of the student body qualifies for FREE breakfast and lunch. These students have been working hard with our community to improve their test scores and reduce their rates of grade retention. With just a little help and interest from our community, we believe we can make a huge difference to these kids. Let's help them and help our community. We will be collecting these supplies at the Creekside Pokeno Night August 21, 2018 at Hemingway Hall. ​Click the arrow below to watch our video. Click the School Supply List Button below to see the list of needed supplies. Thanks!

Click the arrow to watch our video. Thanks!

We are proud to participate in the Backpack Buddies Program at WG Pearson Elementary School. We will be donating Backpacks to the food pantry to use in distributing food each Friday to at-risk children.  Many of our members have already been visiting local Wallgreen's to purchase the backpacks. As of today, we have collected over 50 backpacks. We can't wait to share the news with the school!