Montessori’s delightful surprise

Orcas Montessori School Director Teresa Chocano had just come from a school budget meeting last week, where the news was not good. Cuts seemed likely, and one option getting serious consideration was reducing the size of the food budget.

But then the phone rang. An anonymous member of the Orcas Island Lions Club had bought $50 worth of raffle tickets for his club’s “Run for the Grub,” in which the winner would get a five minute shopping spree worth up to $1,000 at Island Market.

Club members secretly donated their tickets to needy individuals and non-profit organizations on the island by writing in their names. One such ticket had the Orcas Montessori School as the recipient.

Chocano was absolutely stunned when she learned that the winning ticket had named the school. “We didn’t even know we were entered,” she said.

But the school wasn’t about to turn down the gift and, Sunday morning, March 21, Montessori parent Katie Blaine raced around the store, picking up $775 worth of food.

The Montessori school places a high priority on providing its students with top-quality, healthy food, and it serves the kids two snacks and a meal every day. Chocano said the budget for food has been substantial, and everyone at the school -- teachers, parents, board members and kids -- is both thankful and very grateful to the Lions Club for entering the school in the raffle.

Several Lions Club members and local citizens submitted the names of non-profits and needy individuals on the raffle tickets they purchased. Lions Club member Karen Speck said the club regularly advises people to do this. She explained that during the club’s annual fall wood raffle, some people would come up and say, “But I don’t have a wood stove,” to which she would answer that they can still buy a ticket and help somebody else.

Island Market also contributed to the shopping spree by donating $100 worth of meat.

The Orcas Montessori School is a private school on North Beach Road. It is separate from the Montessori classroom in the public school.

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