CRE: Toy & Book Drive
During the month of December the Children’s Religious Education program is having a Toy & Book Drive to update some of our toys, books, and other resources in the RE building.
We are asking congregants to purchase two of the items so that we can donate the second item to a program that has fewer resources than we do. We have chosen to donate the duplicate items to Napier Enhanced Option Elementary School due to the low-income historically black population it serves, the growth it has shown in the past year, and the historical significance of the area.
How to participate
Choose a book or toy from cards on the garland in the Fellowship Hall.
Either:
Purchase 2 copies of the item directly from a store of your choice.
Here is an Amazon Wish List of the items. If you choose to purchase directly from the list, please let Kristin Reveal know so that she can remove the card from the garland before the next Sunday.Write a check made out GNUUC with “Toy Drive” in the memo for 2 times the amount on the card. Give the card and check to Kristin to purchase the item for you from our Amazon Prime account tax free with free shipping.
Bring items in by December 23.
About Napier Enhanced Option Elementary School
Napier Elementary is a Title 1 Elementary School named after black businessman and politician James Carrol Napier. The school is located just south of downtown Nashville, adjacent to Metropolitan Development and Housing Authorities J.C. Napier Homes. The school serves approximately 400 low-income students, Pre-Kindergarten through Fourth, and their families through academic, social-emotional and community initiatives. The average income of families in the area is $18,000 and over 90% of the children qualify for free and reduced lunch. Reports show thezone represents a quarter of the county’s overall violent crimes, including nearly half of its homicides and a third of its robberies. [Note this does not compensate for disproportionate policing practices.]
Within this environment rests Napier Enhanced Option Elementary. Previously on the state’s priority school list, Napier was able to pull itself off the list this academic year through intentional school-wide initiatives lead by the MNPS Schools of Innovation Office and through the efforts of the school principal, Watechia Lawless, and staff. The school is dedicated to its vision of working together to inspire leaders, learners and high achievers. To achieve this, the faculty and staff work to build a mutually respectful environment, provide student centered rigorous instruction and engage with community partners.
All duplicate items purchased for GNUUC RE will be donated directly to Napier Elementary for use in the school. Our goal is to provide the school with the kind of open-ended, diverse materials that we value for our own children, but may not be readily available and provided to the students at this school. If you would like more information about Napier, please speak to Michelle McGonagle, who was assigned as a teacher at Napier Elementary from September 2017 to November 2018.