THANK YOU

Today at the WitKids' Thanksgiving Food Drive I spoke with a little boy, "J", who came with his family to pick up donations:

J- "Where does all this food come from?"

Me- "Well, there was a group of kids that decided all kids should have a Thanksgiving dinner, so they organized a food drive, and kids and people from all over made donations."

J- (long pause...smile) "So, they were being generous?"

Me-"Yes...you could say that."

J- (long pause...eyes widened...big smile) "So, they are like the Rainbow Fish that shared all his scales. He was generous."

Me- (high-fives) "Wow! That's so true!"

As J and I kept talking, I continued to think about the connection he had made to the book The Rainbow Fish and his word choice..."generous".

Thanks to the generosity of WitFans & WitKids, all families (at least 40 kids) received a turkey, a box full of Thanksgiving dinner supplies, and a week's supply of groceries. Each box was decorated with art work by WitKids from different schools in San Diego.

There are so many generous people and businesses that did Whatever It Takes to make this WitKid Thanksgiving Food Drive a success. Thank you....

Caffe Italia-

Thank you for letting us have our WitKid donation box at the caffe for 3 days! Locals, make sure you stop by the caffe for one of their signature drinks...delicious!

Albertson's 14th Street-

Those of you living and/or working downtown I encourage you to do your grocery shopping at this great store. The manager, Tommy, helped us stay on budget and get turkeys for our families. If you see Tommy while you're shopping, thank him for helping the WitKids. He really did Whatever It Takes!. (D- your generous donation provided the turkeys!)

(Me and Tommy + a cart full of turkeys!)

City of Refuge-

I'm often amazed at how much this organization does for San Diego's homeless and families in need. When I was teaching, City of Refuge helped many of my students get food and clothing. When I needed their help yesterday...once again they delivered! Last night I asked for extra groceries, and when I showed up today there were bags ready for me. Thank you! All WitFans...City of Refuge welcomes your donations of clothing, furniture, etc.. They will even come to your house and pick it up!

Go Postal!

Your donation guaranteed that all the kids had pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dessert! I think the kids were most excited about seeing that yummy pie in their box.

There are many of you out there that anonymously contributed and dropped food in our WitKid box. Thank you! (We especially enjoyed the brown bags that were decorated with Thanksgiving messages and full of goodies.)

The 2009 WitKids' Thanksgiving Food Drive was a success because all the WitFans & WitKids worked together and did Whatever It Takes!

Thank you for your generosity...

Keep doing Whatever It Takes,

Miss Hernholm

D-29 WitKids- Food Drive News

WitKid Weekly Reporters

WitKids @ Work
We kick off the WitKid Thanksgiving Food Drive this Wednesday, November 18th at Caffe Italia. Come to Little Italy, donate a non-perishable item(s), and help us do WHATEVER IT TAKES!. We will be accepting donations Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 7 am - 10 pm. Our goal is to help at least 15 families this year. If you can't make it to Caffe Italia, you can send a donation to:

WitKids, Inc.- Whatever It Takes

Thanksgiving Food Drive

1501 India Street Suite 103-5

San Diego, CA 92101

(pic is from last year's food drive...let's do it again this year!)

VSD + WIT

This week Volunteer San Diego (VSD) asked if WIT would be interested in partnering with VSD. My answer? Yes! You will now be able to find our monthly volunteer projects on their Event Calendar. I'm excited about the opportunities this partnership will bring.

WitTV

This week I found myself on the set of The Singing Bee waiting for a meeting about WIT. Many of you know how much I like to break into song, so when the band started to play one of my favorite songs...I really had to hold back. So, instead of singing loudly...I just sang softly to the guy sitting next to me.

As for the status of WitTV? I hope to tell you more in 2-3 weeks. It's so exciting!!!

WitKids

To all the WitKids and WitFans out there, we are still accepting logo submissions. You can email them or mail them to me. Want to get inspired? Check out some of the logo ideas we have received here.

WitFan of the Week

Steve- owner of Caffe Italia

Thanks to Steve for always being willing to help out when it comes to the kids! He is doing whatever it takes to make this year's Thanksgiving Food Drive a success. Thank you!

WitKid of the Week

Garrett from W.W.

Garrett's enthusiasm and dedication for doing WIT deserves to be applauded. He spent many hours preparing and helping out at the first W.W. fundraising event. Garrett also submitted an inspiring and creative logo idea, and he earned a spot as a WitKid Reporter. Way to go, Garrett!

All of my students past and present...I'm proud of you!

All of the WitFans and friends that have been supporting WIT...I appreciate you!

Everyone....keep doing WHATEVER IT TAKES!

Love,

Miss Hernholm

Extra..Extra..Read All About WIT!

Words of WIT

What does WIT mean to WitKids?....

We do whatever we can do to make our school better.–Cameron 9 years old

Whatever It Takes is not just a name

It’s a way to help….

It’s you, it’s me, it’s we.

-William 11 years old

We fix the school

We fix the world

We spread the word so everyone can hear

-Michael 10 years old

WIT Schools

Sunset Room 5- Check out the video WitKids Macallister and Allyson made about doing WIT. Room 5 WitKids have done an amazing job inspiring others to do WIT. They even encouraged the Room 8 kids to start their own WIT project- fixing the basketball hoops on the playground.

W.W. Room D-29- Congrats on raising $300 at the Fall Festival!! A big thank you to Mr. Mitchell for donating some of the supplies. It’s exciting to think about how close the D-29ers are to meeting their goal. New sports equipment is right around the corner. J

Taft Room B-5- Exciting news! A WitFan saw the video Dashaun and Layla made about wanting to have Easy Turf on part of the school’s field and…..they want to help! So, the WitKids in B-5 are in meetings trying to get everything figured out. Way to do WHATEVER IT TAKES!

WitWorld

Nancy Hanssen is taking WIT to Kenya’s Daraja Academy in early 2010. This will be a fact-finding mission as Nancy researches the 1^st International WIT Project.

WIT @ Work

Thanksgiving Dinner- WIT has chosen 15 families for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner Drive. These families were chosen based on financial need and family situation. If it wasn’t for WIT and all of you WitFans, these families would not have a Thanksgiving meal, and as WitKid Michael said, “It’s not the kids’ fault, so we should help the whole family, they shouldn’t miss out on Thanksgiving.”

Michael’s Proposed Thanksgiving Menu- Turkey, Bread, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Green Beans, Pumpkin Pie

If you would like to donate food or make a monetary donation, please email me at shernholm@hotmail.com

November Volunteer Project- Come join us on November 28^th for a beach clean-up in Ocean Beach. Maybe we can even have lunch at Hodad's? Yum! Hope to see all of you there. Feel free to email me if you need more information.

WIT Beach- WIT has adopted a beach through San Diego's Adopt-a-Beach program. Our part of the beach is located in Mission Bay. We will be planning the first clean-up of WIT Beach soon. Stay tuned.

WitKids

Keep those emails and drawings coming. The t-shirt designs all of you are coming up with are wonderful! You have until the end of the month to submit your design ideas.

I'm so proud of all you WitKids! You are changing the world...one WIT project at a time.

Keep showing Character Counts..and

Keep doing WHATEVER IT TAKES!

Love,

Miss Hernholm

Remember to check us out on our WitKids Facebook Page...become a Fan!

p.s. The pic is of last year's Thanksgiving Dinners. Let's do it again this year...we can do it..WHATEVER IT TAKES!