BE A PART OF MASON-RICE SOCIAL ACTION! Look for all Social Action events marked with on the School Calendar throughout the year.

Mission:  The Mason-Rice Social Action committee aims to provide opportunities for students and their families to participate in community service activities.  The goal is to build community involvement within the school while raising awareness of social and cultural issues outside of school.  Studies show that exposing children to service, volunteering, and philanthropy both teaches them about social issues and deepens their sense of connection to their community.  We hope that engaging our children in meaningful and educational ways will foster a commitment to service and help them become active citizens. The efforts will include kids-driven projects (Kids Take Action or KTA), as well as family-oriented projects, and green efforts.

Help lead or plan future initiatives.  We are looking for volunteers to lead or help plan initiatives.  We would love your feedback and participation.  Contact any of our Social Committee chairs if you have any questions: Suzannah Creedon and Maureen Oates. 

We have a variety of activities planned throughout the school year.  We would love your children or your whole family to participate.  Review the list below and check for latest event, dates/times on the calendar on the Mason-Rice PTO website. And watch the Notes for a preview of upcoming activities.

SOCIAL ACTION EVENTS at Mason-Rice CHECK School Calendar throughout the year for CURRENT YEAR EVENTS
FALL and WINTER EVENTS	SPRING EVENTS
October - Catalog Cancel Challenge - Upper Falls Greenway Clean-up - Trick-or-Treat UNICEF  November  - Halloween Candy Drive Mid November - Mid December  - Gift-of-Giving December - Luke's Lights - Holiday Sing-a-long (Nursing Home January - February - Cradles to Crayons (C2C) Toy and Clothing Drive	March - Hunger & Health April - Birthday Wishes Goody Bags - Newton Serves    May (typically First Sunday) - Walk for Hunger May (typically Third Sunday) - Relay for Life June - Pan Mass Challenge Kids Ride June - Food Drive
Green Projects and Initiatives such as our Catalog Cancellation Challenge, School Garden, Composting, Crayons Drives.......Click to learn more ....
Look for KTA updates in October 2011 KTA Projects 2011 KTA MEETINGS

PROGRAMS and PROJECTS INFORMATION.

Family-Oriented Opportunities. These events include Annual Holiday Gift-of-Giving program for local charities for homeless children and shelters for battered women; Birthday Wishes;  Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, Halloween Candy Donation, the Walk for Hunger; Relay for Life; and Pan Mass Challenge for Kids. All parents and children are invited to participate – thank you in advance for your ideas, energy and participation – we look forward to a really rewarding year. Here are past programs we have done.  PLEASE look at our online calendar for CURRENT YEAR EVENTS marked with or search with "Social Action" to see a list of events.

• The Greenway Plan aims to create a mile-long pedestrian and bicycle trail stretching from Newton Highlands to the Charles River. This cleanup effort will be focused primarily on clearing back vegetation and re-opening the right-of-way for walking. There's likely to also be a small amount of light trash picking as well but large items and most of the trash were removed during the spring cleanup. Volunteers are asked to bring tools if they have them (pruning shears, cutters, etc). The Upper Falls Greenway will provide gloves and trash bags and bring extra tools for those who need them. To learn more about the Upper Falls Greenway, check out: www.upperfallsgreenway.org. This is a chance to really get your hands dirty helping your community and our local environment! .

• Gift of Giving. Mason-Rice families help hundreds of children in need have a more joyful holiday season. Learn more. The Gift of Giving annual holiday outreach to Bromley-Heath Housing Development (Boston's largest public housing development), the Child Witness to Violence Project (children living in foster care due to domestic violence) and Department of Children and Families (counseling and advocacy for children who have witnessed domestic violence) begins in second week of November. Sign-ups will be at the M-R lobby bulletin board.  At that time you will be able to select one or more children in need, and help make their holiday season more joyful by providing them with new gifts. More details will be coming in backpacks the week of the launch. Look for news in NOTES for current year schedule.  If you have questions, contact Kristin Holson or Kari H. Many thanks in advance for your generosity! 

• Birthday Wishes. Mason-Rice helps homeless children celebrate their birthday.  We support the Birthday Wishes Mission that bring birthday parties to homeless children. Birthday Wishes recognizes the importance of a birthday in a child's life and believes that the gift of a birthday celebration provides normalcy, joy and hope in these children's otherwise unsettled lives.  There are well over 96,000 homeless children in Massachusetts alone.  Help Mason-Rice support Birthday Wishes by donating new and leftover party favor items by dropping them in the box in the Mason-Rice lobby during our February 2011  drive or bringing them on March 9th to Ms. Liu’s classroom and help us stuff the bags.  We’ll supply the bags!  Click to view examples of goodies.  RSVP or if you have any questions, please contact  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  and check out the Birthday Wishes website: http://www.birthdaywishes.org.  See the calendar of events on this website for information on upcoming opportunities.

Kids-Take-Action (KTA). Learn more. Kids Take Action (KTA) is dedicated to generating enthusiasm for social  action, volunteerism, and philanthropy in elementary school children.  The purpose is to inspire children to have a lifelong commitment to take action to help address local and global problems.  KTA provides a framework for student-driven efforts to harness the collective energy of the entire school community for the greater good. Click for Registration Form. For more information on KTA, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .