A letter from the PTSA Interim President:
Every year, the Ballard PTSA sponsors a Direct Appeal to support academics in the classroom. But this year we pivoted, given the cruel pervasiveness of this pandemic and its detrimental effect on many of our families, and asked our community to save some of those donation dollars for the Ballard Cares campaign.
From a personal perspective, there have been bright moments at our house so far this school year: a VERY well walked dog, “Queen’s Gambit” inspired chess tourneys, and a junior Beaver somehow showing his frosh brother “the ropes” of high school while engaging in online learning mere feet away. Checking out the Ballard Curbside Pickup events for new reads and a quick hello to familiar faces. But there have been hardships too. Is high school really high school on a Teams grid? Getting to participate in cross-country workouts for a short stretch, but in a masked and different capacity.
Aside from the bumps we’ve had squeezing that high school experience into a digital learning world, we are mindful of those in our community who are not just uncomfortable with this version of high school but are wondering about their next meal, rent payment or grocery bill. Those who are struggling financially, emotionally and physically due to COVID-19. Businesses have closed, neighbors have lost jobs and food banks are overwhelmed. This is the hard and ugly truth of this pandemic.
While we cannot wave a magic wand and make the pandemic go away, we can continue to show those suffering in our midst that Ballard Cares. Even a small donation can go a long way to helping a student and their family know they’ve got the BHS Community in their corner.
In the past few weeks, our school community's Bucky's Home for the Holidays kind gift card donations have gone a long way to help make the season brighter for Ballard families. Thank you. Ballard Cares is a way for us to continue a basic-needs level of support for those hardest-hit families as we enter into the new year.
For those who have already donated to Ballard Cares, thank you for your support. It's been a long 2020 but it is amazing the way this Beaver family continues to rally for one another.
