Over $15,000,000.00 COP has been raised so far in the annual Thanksgiving Donation Program sponsored by The Columbus School Foundation and ASOPAF to benefit maintenance, Servi-Express, and security personnel.

Donations will continue to be accepted through December 9. Anyone wanting to contribute should contact the foundation office 4033147.  Ninety-five employees and more than seventy-five families will receive bonuses on this holiday date due to the donations that have been given from the TCS community. 

 “We have this impeccable and beautiful school thanks to them. The process to recollect the money is just a small token of our appreciation compared to the work they do for all of us,” Katherine Jurado, HS Secretary, said.

This is the tenth year the foundation has held this collection drive to make sure that the entire TCS community has a happy holiday season. Piggy banks were handed out to the classrooms around campus enabling students and teachers to donate, while parents donate via QR code and transferencia.

 “We are happy to announce that our previous goal of 15 million was crushed and we are anxious to see if we can get the 20 million goals from the piggy banks spread all over the school,” Angela Botero, TCS Foundation Director, said.

The Thanksgiving tradition of providing holiday gifts for the TCS community recognizes the contributions made by all the support personnel who take care of the school and make sure that students, staff, and faculty have the support needed to educate students.  

 “We should be grateful, we are very privileged to be in this school and we have developed an impeccable reputation with the school campus we should be extremely thankful to the people who help us clean and fix this campus to make it look as nice as ever,” Paul Navarra, HS Vice-principal, said.

The participation from parents and students has substantially increased the amount of donations numbers compared to previous years, this year the number of donations rose 45 percent.  While the Elementary School has contributed the most, the Middle and High school collection bins remain primarily empty.

 “We all should try to help with any coins that we have leftover or that we don’t need. All this help will be a big benefit to help the employees,” Natalia Giraldo, HS secretary, said.

All the money raised will be exchanged for Exito or Home Center bonuses of 150,000 COP. This does not include the piggy banks that could raise another 5,000,000 COP to raise a bonus of 200,000 COP.

 “I feel that this year would be a phenomenal year for the TCS Thanksgiving donation, it’s incredible all the support that we have received from parents,” Botero said.

Thanksgiving assembly is centered around giving thanks for all the contributions made by maintenance workers. This year’s assembly will be different from the ones before. This year the money that is usually given will be given to the employees on December 9, to gather a bigger amount of donations. 

“I am very happy with all the support we have received. I thank all the students and parents for all the love and empathy that they have generated in this work, as laborious as it is to maintain a school,” Jaime Andres Lopez, maintenance logistics worker, said.