From the Heart
The front drive at Emily Brittain Elementary School was abuzz Saturday, as the school's 192 families received a trunkful of Christmas cheer and a happy holiday greeting from volunteers.
Principal Cassandra Pencek said the pilot program saw each family, regardless of their income, receive a laundry basket full of ingredients to whip up a holiday meal, a few wrapped gifts requested by their student and a boxed lunch for each member of the household.
In addition to the holiday meal ingredients, each food basket contained a gift certificate for a ham or turkey, and the festively wrapped gifts ranged from small items to bikes and doll houses.
The families pulled up to the front of the school with a blue paper under their windshield wiper that sported a number.Pencek or another volunteer used a walkie talkie to relay that number to a volunteer inside the school who placed the basket and gifts corresponding with that number on a wheelchair or dolly and rushed it to the front entrance and to the car sporting that number.The basket and gifts were loaded into the trunk or back seat while another volunteer brought the boxed lunches to the car.The smiling volunteers waved and shouted, “Merry Christmas!” to the grateful occupants of each car as they drove out of sight with their treasures.“It's great,” said Ronald Filsinger, whose grandson attends Emily Brittain. “With everything going on, it's much appreciated.”The event was created after Mindy Schnitgen, founder and owner of the nonprofit Inspired Hearts and Hands of Gibsonia, met with officials from Center for Community Resources in Butler to ask which school in the city would most benefit from a food and toy drive.CCR suggested Emily Brittain on North Washington Street and Schnitgen, CCR officials and Pencek met to discuss carrying out the pilot program at the school.
Pencek said to collect the toys, teachers asked their students to make a wish list of items they want for Christmas.Those items were then written on tags that were hung on “angel trees.”The angel trees were given to MSA in Cranberry Township and other businesses, where employees selected tags and bought the toys wished for.CCR staff used their large vans to transport the gifts and toys from the employers to the Inspired Hearts and Hands warehouse in Gibsonia.Inspired Hearts and Hands volunteers wrapped and labeled the toys for the Emily Brittain students.Pencek said to give parents the opportunity to put the gifts under the tree from Santa, the students were not told the purpose of the wish lists.“They thought it was just an activity,” she said.Pencek said Schnitgen did not want to hand out coats and gloves or other necessities because she wanted each Emily Brittain student to receive something fun for Christmas.“They are things you don't normally get in these types of events,” Pencek said.She said Schnitgen also was uninterested in determining which students were eligible for the giveaways because she wanted each family to enjoy the event.“Yesterday, I was in tears,” Pencek said.Regarding the laundry baskets full of holiday food, Schnitgen said the items were purchased by Inspired Hearts and Hands through corporate and individual donations.MSA paid Parkhurst Dining, which is Eat 'n Park Restaurant's hospitality group, for the boxed lunches, which contained a sandwich, apple, chips and water.Different lunches were available for adults or children.“Two adults and seven children,” a volunteer called to Schnitgen, who immediately began plucking nine white boxes from the stack of 750 lunches.
Schnitgen said she began Inspired Hearts and Hands in 2012 in her garage.She gave away 65 laundry baskets full of food that year. In 2020, she provided 825 meal baskets as well as toys and gifts from more than 700 angel tree tags through the generosity of local businesses, donors and corporations.Schnitgen was thrilled to help place the baskets, gifts and boxed lunches in the vehicles of Emily Brittain families, as she had to drop off items at other locations due to the coronavirus pandemic.All volunteers wore masks on Saturday as they loaded the vehicles.“I'm just so blessed,” Schnitgen said.She said she started Inspired Hands and Hearts to stem hunger in the area and to educate her children on their obligation to help others who are less fortunate.“We wanted our kids to have an appreciation for the need that exists around them and to see the world outside of the bubble their Dad and I have created around them,” Schnitgen said. “I want to teach them to serve with their hands.”
Schnitgen's young daughter, Alexis, energetically pushed carts loaded with items from the Emily Brittain gymnasium to the front door over and over on Saturday.Asked how it made her feel when the food and brightly wrapped presents on her cart were placed into the cars, the Mars Elementary School student replied “Happy.”One volunteer at the event was Emily Brittain custodian Ray Gonzalez, whose chest-length beard was painted red and green and adorned with small Christmas ornaments.Gonzalez wore a green elf shirt, a necklace of Christmas lights and blinking bulbs hanging from his mask.He has decorated his beard every Friday since the Christmas season began.“Yesterday, it was silver and blue with snowflakes in it,” he said.Gonzalez was stupefied at the sheer number of items that lined the school's hallways and filled the gymnasium on Friday night.“I think it's fantastic that they're doing this for our school community,” Gonzalez said. “It's amazing to me.”Those pulling up to receive their food, gifts and boxed lunches agreed.“It's wonderful,” said Emily Brittain parent Kallie Wright. “It's a nice boost during a difficult time.”
