Winsor Ushers in the Holiday Spirit with Festive Dance Assembly, and Over $12k Raised in GBFB Hunger Relief Fundraiser

December 8, 2022—Winsor gathered for a festive assembly on December 8, kicking off with a special dance performance from the Lower School Dance Team and the Winsor Dance Team, coached by Performing Arts Faculty Carey McKinley. The show, run by the Technical Theater Class under the direction of Mr. Puigbo, featured three excerpts from David Parker & The Bang Group's spoof of The Nutcracker, called “Nut/Cracked: Sugar Plums, Mirlitons and Slavic Disco.”

Dancing to the familiar music of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” (but updated with lively lyrics), “Dance of the Reed Pipes,” and “Trepak,” the student dance teams presented a light-hearted twist to The Nutcracker, dressed in black track pants, white shirts, and sporting red Santa hats in some numbers. A highlight of the performance was when Head of School Ms. Pelmas joined the festivities, tiptoeing behind the dancers carrying the Winsor Lamp of Learning and offering a few high kicks, landing an arabesque! Dazzling the audience, Elizabeth Fitzpatrick ’25 danced an energetic and impressive solo to “Trepak” with the corps de ballet. The dancers ended the program with Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock".

After the dance performances, student leaders from the Student Outreach Club and Food Bank Club welcomed guest speaker Ms. Bianca Walker, senior manager of corporate development at the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), which is the largest hunger relief organization in Massachusetts. Winsor is in the midst of raising money for the Hunger Free Holidays campaign, which raises money to support GBFB’s mission to end hunger in Eastern Massachusetts and ensure communities in need have food for the holidays. 

Ms. Walker explained the disparity between Massachusetts’ ample wealth and resources as a state and the high number of people and communities experiencing food insecurity, which she defined as not having access to healthy, nutritious food. GBFB services over 190 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts. Since the onset of Covid-19 and coupled with record inflation rates, the number of people experiencing food insecurity in Eastern Massachusetts has doubled, with many individuals and families facing hard choices between food, utilities, rent/mortgage, medical care, transport, and education. 

Ms. Walker educated the audience about how the Greater Boston Food Bank acquires their food, explaining that 76% of the food GBFB distributes to local food pantries in communities is purchased, with the remaining 24% coming from food donations. As a large hunger-relief organization, GBFB can purchase up to four times as much food per dollar than an individual, so the money from donations can go even further. Individuals can help close the food insecurity gap by volunteering time, donating money, and spreading the word. 

Winsor’s fundraising team at the time of print has raised over $12k towards the campaign, an amount that will feed over 20 thousand people. While Winsor’s class and panthers/jaguars competition ends on December 16, the fundraiser through GBFB is active through December 31.

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