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Published on 02/01/1999 All articles from this issue

Los Altos RSVP members throw a party for fourth graders

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By Clyde Noel

Special to the Town Crier

Dick Foster, Duane Stauffer and George MacFarland, Los Altos residents and members of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), knew just what they were doing when they attended a recent grocery convention in Reno.

They were the high bidders in a silent auction for a cookie and cake party for a school class of 30, given by Entenmann's Bakery. Their plan was to give the party to students they had been helping at El Carmelo elementary school in Palo Alto.

"This was right down our alley. We couldn't believe it because we tutor kids at El Carmelo," Stauffer said. When they told the principal, Los Altos resident Ginger Fullerton, "she told us they have three fourth-grade classes and how do you pick one over the other?"

Stauffer went back to Entenmann's, the food manufacturer, and explained the problem. "They said go ahead," Stauffer said, and Entenmann's provided enough cookies and cake for all 90 students of the fourth grade class.

The RSVP volunteers then went to Safeway in Los Altos, and Safeway donated six cases of soft drinks for the party.

Stauffer's group took the party and the students to Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. With reader boards and videos at the exhibit the children had a field trip to remember.

"Having an event like this allowed us to add a personal dimension in volunteerism. By providing something special for fourth-grade students, it helped to brighten our lives, too," Stauffer said.

Some of the students that Foster, Stauffer and MacFarland took on the field trip are students in El Carmelo's elementary Read-A-Thon goal program. These students receive a one-on-one study treatment from the volunteers so the students knew the volunteers.

The program will begin next year at Oak School in Los Altos.

Stauffer, Foster and MacFarland are members of the northern Santa Clara County chapter of RSVP, which is a national volunteer organization.

For more information about RSVP volunteering, call Louise Dalton at 326-5362, ext. 12.