The lobby buzzes with anticipation as kindergartners’ wide eyes watch the entrance. With a cold gust of wind, a busload of high school students enter, their arms overflowing with books, clothes, and toys. Grins break out in the sea of kindergarteners as they look up at teenagers decked out in holiday costumes.
For the past seven years, the Southern Lehigh Winter Track Team has kept alive the tradition of delivering “Bedtime Bundles” to Jackson Elementary students. The donation drive was originally created by Mrs. Kelli Di Cesare, a Southern Lehigh Track mom, alongside her son Alec and daughter Tessa. Each year, the Di Cesare family has encouraged the team to give back to the Lehigh Valley community in the spirit of the holiday season.
“When our time’s up in the classrooms, everyone comes out and they’re just, like, bursting with joy. It’s really cute and people talk about it for years to come,” Tessa Di Cesare said. “It’s just so rewarding.”
The idea first hatched from a similar project Kelli Di Cesare started when she lived in Pittsburgh, focused on delivering care packages to a nearby public school. After moving to Southern Lehigh, she was compelled to help in the same way. When Mrs. Colleen Sharf, a former Southern Lehigh mom and Jackson Elementary teacher, expressed concerns about her students’ need for supplies, Mrs. Di Cesare seized the opportunity to assist. Mrs. Sharf explained that when the school had pajama days for students, some did not have any to wear.
At the beginning of each year’s fundraiser, Mrs. Di Cesare provides the team with a list of supplies for athletes and their families to donate. This includes not only essential items such as toothbrushes and pajamas, but also cheerful presents like toys and books. The Di Cesare family collects supplies leading up to winter break and then packages the gifts together. Each bundle includes at least one book and is wrapped up with a pajama set.
Once all the supplies have been collected, the Winter Track Team travels on a bus to Jackson Elementary on the Friday morning before Winter Break to deliver the bundles and spend time with the students. The team dresses up in holiday attire, wearing bright colors and decorative lights around their necks. Then, the athletes split up into different classrooms where they read books and play games.
Senior Jacalyn DeSimone has been on the Winter Track Team all four years of high school. This winter, she donated to and participated in the “Bedtime Bundles,” an experience she looks forward to each year.
“The incredible thing about this program is that it’s not just a pair of pajamas and a book to those kids; it is a gift and a core memory that those kindergartners truly cherish,” said DeSimone. “For a lot of the children, new books, fresh pajamas, and bedtime supplies are not ‘givens,’ making what we do have all the more impact on their lives.”
Jackson Elementary is unique in that it enrolls only kindergarten students, so the donations pertain to younger kids. The elementary school is located in Allentown and enrolls many students whose families struggle with financial instability. This drive provides an opportunity for the Lehigh Valley community to help out through necessary donations.
The team environment surrounding Winter Track has contributed to the enthusiasm behind the donations. The support that each athlete experiences has inspired their desire to give back.
“The best thing about being on a team is that you always have a group of people to support and uplift you,” DeSimone said, “I’m a firm believer that no one can make it alone; being on a team gives you so much, and it only makes sense to give back.”
After donating “Bedtime Bundles” each year, the Winter Track community is fully invested and ready to help. Each year, it has gotten easier to get the donations together. This year, the team fully surpassed their goal, delivering over 250 bundles to Jackson Elementary.
“After doing it for so long, we have it down to a science,” said Tessa Di Cesare. “We assign shoppers from the track team, track athletes send out advertising videos to their friends, and we post on social media.”
Next year, the Di Cesare family will move away from the Southern Lehigh School District after Tessa graduates. Although the team is unsure of who will take over the donation drive, they agree it is important to keep the tradition alive.
“When you have the ability to help people, especially kids,” said Mrs. Kelli Di Cesare, “you have to take it.”
