Irish families will spend more than a quarter of a million euro in
gifts for primary school teachers at the end of this month– a lot of
which end up in the bottom of the wardrobe or in the charity shop.
That
being the case, a Catholic social agency has asked children to say
thanks to their favourite teacher or teachers, with a different kind of
gift – a helping hand to those most in need.
Crosscare, the Catholic social agency based in Dublin, is asking
parents and children not to buy the scented candle or toiletry set, and
instead to make a donation to them. In return, children can download a
specially designed Thank You Teacher Card from their website and add
their own personal message.
“I know from friends of mine who are teachers that while they really
appreciate that children want to buy them something small and show their
appreciation; they also see that there is a huge amount of waste
involved – when they end up taking home 15 boxes of chocolates and ten
different types of soap,” said Crosscare Director Conor Hickey.
“We spoke with some teachers who said they would be much happier to
see that money go to a good cause like Crosscare, particularly as
resources are getting more and more constrained for everyone.”
Crosscare
helps over 70,000 people in Dublin every year – including homeless
people, young children in care, and people who need help just to put
food on the table.
Parents can log on from today at www.crosscare.ie and download this extra special gift for teachers.
Crosscare
employs close to 170 staff working on seventeen different projects
helping the homeless, providing community services and working with
young people.
The agency has an annual expenditure of almost €11
million.