Salyards Choir Outreach Day

Salyards MS recently held an outreach day for its 7th and 8th-grade choir students. Choir teachers Amy Moore and Bradley Acree led a group of 70 students, representing three of Salyard's choirs. The teachers were assisted by 10 parent volunteers.

The day started with caroling trips to the Fairfield H-E-B and Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center. From there, the group moved to the Houston Food Bank, where they worked for three hours to fill Backpack Buddy bags. These bags are distributed through area schools to students of families in need.

Each Backpack Buddy bag contains a set amount of cereal, protein, milk, juice and canned fruits and vegetables. The food items must be packed in a very specific way so that each bag can fit into a child's backpack. Over 8,000 bags were filled during the volunteer session. The Salyards choir students ended the experience by performing for the other workers and volunteers at the food bank.

"I can't begin to tell you how hard our Salyards choir students worked that day," Amy Moore said. "It was a wow experience for all involved."

Though this is the first time Salyards choir classes have done an outreach day like this, several of the student volunteers expressed an interest in taking part in another one. This was happy news for Moore and Acree, who had hoped that the experience would demonstrate that giving can involve more than just money. "We wanted this experience to help all of our students understand what it means and what it feels like to give of themselves," Moore said. "Sharing music or the physical ability to work can mean more than all the money in the world." work can mean more than all the money in the world."