Gooden Blog

As November begins, our new character value is Service. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this is a wonderful time to reflect on the many blessings in our lives and, more importantly, how we can share those blessings with others.

Service is at the heart of who we are as an Episcopal school. Our Episcopal identity calls us to love our neighbors, care for those in need, and recognize the dignity and worth of every person. We teach our students that service isn’t simply something we do during the holidays or when someone asks for help. It is a way of living and an opportunity to put our faith and values into action.

At The Gooden School, we often talk about our Three R’s: Respect for Self, Respect for Others, and Respect for the World. Service is a beautiful example of what those values look like in action. Whether it’s helping a younger student, showing kindness to a classmate, lending a hand without being asked, or supporting someone in our community, even the smallest acts of service can make a meaningful difference.

This month, we are putting our character value into action through our continued partnership with Friends In Deed, a wonderful Pasadena organization that serves individuals and families experiencing hardship. Their food pantry provides groceries to hundreds of households each week, and we are proud to support their efforts.

We will be accepting nonperishable food donations throughout the month of November, focusing specifically on Friends In Deed’s “Gold” items, which are the foods they need most. These include canned tuna and chicken, cereal, peanut butter, rice, hearty soups, pasta, pasta sauce, and other pantry staples.

You can find the complete list of Friends In Deed’s most-needed items here.

We are also excited to invite our grandparents and special friends to join us in this effort on Friday, November 20, during our Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day celebration. As part of this special morning, we will have an ingathering of food donations to support Friends In Deed. What a wonderful opportunity for our students to come together with the special people in their lives and share in the joy of giving to others. We hope our grandparents and special friends will consider bringing a donation and joining us in making a difference for families in our community.

I encourage you to involve your children in this effort. Take them grocery shopping and let them choose a few items to donate. Talk with them about why some families struggle to put food on the table and how something as simple as a jar of peanut butter or a box of cereal can help. These conversations are just as important as the donations themselves. They help our children develop empathy, gratitude, and an understanding that they have the ability to make a difference in the lives of others.

One of the things I love most about Gooden is the way our community comes together to care for others. My hope is that our students come to understand that service is not about how much we give, but about the willingness to give of ourselves.

As we move through November, I hope we can all find ways, both big and small, to serve others. After all, when we teach children to look beyond themselves and care for their neighbors, we are helping them become the kind of people who will make our world a better place.

Thank you, as always, for being such a generous and caring community.