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Schools

BHUSD Students Volunteer Over the Holidays

More than 1,000 lunches are made for charity during the annual Christmas Eve event.

About 150 Beverly Hills Unified School District students and their families spent a few hours on Christmas Eve at Hawthorne School making 1,300 lunches for the hungry.

An annual BHUSD tradition, the event benefited the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition.

“I am so proud of our community,” Hawthorne Assistant Principal Christian Fuhrer said. “The turnout is incredible and I see people from all five [BHUSD] schools here.”

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Fuhrer’s wife Christy, a Horace Mann first-grade teacher, and their son Lucas were also helping with a few other BHUSD staff members.

Students assembled lunches that contained a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an orange, chips or another snack, a drink, a napkin and a handmade card.

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Mayor William Brien sat side-by-side with students making sandwiches.

“I am here every year—it’s an important job,” he said.

The event was sponsored by Hawthorne School and the PTA Council, although each of the five schools donated food. Community service representatives at each school helped publicize the day.

"Our Christmas is happier knowing that we could make a difference to others," said Vivian-Taylor Geilim, a Horace Mann eighth grader who was there with her mother.

Middle and high school students received four service points for attending the event as part of their mandatory community service. However, that was not the primary reason for being there, most said.

“It really feels good to help others who are hungry,” Horace Mann sixth-grader Evan Pizzurro said.

Pizzurro said he was surprised by how many of his fellow students were there on their first day of BHUSD’s two-week school vacation. 

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