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Habits at Jurupa Unified include helping those in need, cultivating respectful citizens, and setting an example for students to think beyond themselves, assist others, and give back to their community.

The district models beneficence, during the holiday season and year-round, with a broad range of training, support, and resources for students, families and the Jurupa community. 

Here is a snapshot of three programs that reflect Jurupa's spirit of giving:

JUSD Food Drive

“This is a place where the generosity of the community comes in and goes right back out to those in need in the same community." – Laura Roughton, Community  Volunteer/Food Drive Coordinator

The annual event, which helps feed Jurupa's neediest families during the December holidays, dates back at least 20 years. Most schools in the district participate, along with scores of students, educators, and community volunteers. 

This year, about 160 families gathered at Jurupa Middle School on December 15th to receive bags of food that included soup, beans, pancake mix, cereal, spaghetti, and canned vegetables. Families also received holiday stockings, clothing, toys, and more. Donations, collected through school sites, were supplemented by partners – including the Jurupa Lions Club, Jurupa Valley Adopt a Family, the LDS Church, Champions for Change, Jurupa 14 Cinemas, and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors – that furnished such items as movie tickets and cookbooks. 

Meanwhile, a core group of volunteers handles the annual event planning: Ms. Roughton and four JUSD teachers: Rebecca Gomez (JMS), Shawna Cornejo (Peralta), Janice Cloward (Teacher on Special Assignment), and Kevin Roughton (JMS). And each year, several hundred JUSD students volunteer at the food drive.

Said Ms. Roughton: “It inspires gratitude and giving at each school as students bring their donations to help others and serve as event ambassadors."

The event atmosphere was festive, with a volunteer DJ, Santa Claus, games and activities, and a visit from firefighters to inspire the kids. Bands, provided by Rockstars of Tomorrow Norco, entertained the waiting families.

“The appreciation is written on the families' faces as they are wished Merry Christmas as they check out and are escorted to their vehicles with an overflowing cart of food and goodies," Ms. Roughton said.

Socktober
 
“There are plenty of studies showing that helping others can help improve our outlook on life." – Jason Atkinson, coordinator of Socktober for JUSD

Socktober is an annual month-long drive to collect and disburse socks to help homeless men and women throughout the United States. The concept was popularized by Kid President, aka Robby Novak, and his brother-in-law, Brad Montague. “Their aim was to help people realize that showing a small act of love can make a big difference in the lives of others," shared Mr. Atkinson, a teacher at Del Sol Academy.

Jurupa families and educators have embraced the cause: Over the past two years, Jurupa Unified has collected about 7,000 pairs of new socks, Mr. Atkinson said.

This was the teacher's second year leading the district-wide Socktober drive, which dispatches 55-gallon barrels to Jurupa schools to gather the footwear. Most of the socks go to the Department of Parent Involvement & Community Outreach (PICO), which disburses them to needy families in Jurupa Valley. Socks are given to every family that visits the JUSD We Care Closet and every student who receives shoes through the district's Shoes that Fit program, said Jose Campos, PICO's Director. 

This year, JUSD also gave some socks to families affected by the Woolsey fire, which ignited November 8th and ravaged parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

“I drove the socks to Agoura Hills Thanksgiving morning," Mr. Atkinson said. “You could see the burn areas on both sides of the freeway and the smell was everywhere."

The socks in turn were distributed through parent groups from the Las Virgenes Unified School District in Calabasas, that had organized to assist fire victims. 

Socktober affirms the lesson that even simple acts of kindness can make others' lives better, easier, and a little more comfortable.

“This program and others like it help our students to have more compassion and empathy toward others," Mr. Atkinson said. “It helps us learn to widen our focus from just ourselves to look out for other people and to consider their feelings and needs."

Bicycles for Children
 
“Programs such as this are not just programs that give; they provide hope.  Furthermore, they model what it is like to care and give and build community." –  Jose Campos, PICO Director and JUSD Coordinator for Bicycles for Children. 
 
The Bicycles for Children program, now in its sixth year at Jurupa, delivers new two-wheeled transportation to students whose families cannot afford it. All 17 Jurupa elementary schools participate each year. At each school, educators designate five low-income students to receive bicycles over the holidays. The key criterion is student need; schools cannot consider grades or distribute the cycles as a reward or through a contest.

Bicycles for Children is a Corona-based nonprofit that runs the broader program in concert with the Corona/Norco Family YMCA. Huffy Bicycle Company provides bicycles at cost while Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) and the Chad Zeller Foundation furnish helmets for each cycle recipient.

The program has three primary goals: to place new bicycles in the hands of low-income children; to build students' connections with educators and their schools, boosting students' grades, health, and mobility/independence; and to provide volunteerism opportunities for older students, as teen volunteers help fundraise for the cause and assemble bicycles, according to program literature.

“Bicycles for Children is explicit in how bicycles are given and for this reason it achieves each of its three goals," Mr. Campos said. “We must model and connect and be explicit in how we give back so we can develop our next generation to do the same."

As for how the kids react to their new wheels, Mr. Campos said, “Children experience ultimate joy with eyes lit up and grins from cheek to cheek. They are generally astounded and in disbelief. When the initial shock wears off, they are filled will love and gratitude."