Students, dads and special friends were invited to indulge in donuts and conversation on Oct. 23 before the school day started.
Families and friends gathered in the Crossman Dining Hall from 7:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., where they had different breakfast items to pick from including Dunkin’ Donuts and coffee, along with the everyday breakfast menu from Sage Dinning.
To pair with the morning treat, there were also free donut day mugs to put the coffee in and take home, as well as a festive backdrop for photos.
“My dad has been going with me since fifth grade, and it is just something we have been going to for a while,” sophomore Tali Berrelez said. “When we went this morning, me, my dad and my brother went.”
This event represented all corners of campus and brought the Greenhill community together with participants ranging from pre-kindergarten to seniors.
“The turn out this year was fantastic, parents and children from all the grade levels were welcome,” Parents’ Association chair Richa Gupta said. “We had roughly 2,100 donuts and are proud to report we had no donut boxes left in the cafeteria at the end.”
According to Gupta, the main objective of this annual event was to foster community and strengthen family engagement within the school.
“It is an opportunity for fathers or other important figures in the family to spend quality time with children on their own turf, and who can say no to donuts galore, coffee and photo ops in front of sprinkle pastry filled backdrops,” Gupta said.
The Greenhill Parents Association also utilized this event to raise donations for Austin Street Center by organizing a fundraiser, Coffee for a Cause.
This fundraiser is one of the ways the Greenhill community contributes annually to the center, as they have a long-standing relationship. Other events include monthly sandwich making to supply their homeless community with lunches.
Families were encouraged to bring canisters of Folgers ground coffee in various size containers or make financial donations through a QR code that sent donations instantly to Austin Street’s donation page.
“At the Donuts with Dads and Special Friends event, we collected 1,820 ounces of coffee, which we estimate equals about 3,641 cups of coffee,” Community Outreach Chair Rebekah Newman said. “We also collected a few financial donations that went directly to Austin Street.”
