AS THE primary school year draws to a close, Crosscare, the Dublin Catholic archdiocese’s social care agency, has appealed to parents to make a donation to it rather than pay for more soap,scented candles, and/or chocolates for their children’s favourite teacher.
It has said “schoolchildren who will bid a tearful farewell to their favourite teacher at the end of the month are being asked to say thanks with a very special present for their teacher this summer, a helping hand to those most in need”.
It has asked parents and children “not to buy the annual scented candle or toiletry set” but to make a donation to them instead.
In return, children can download a specially designed “Thank You Teacher” card from the Crosscare website and add their own personal message. It is available at www.crosscare.ie.
The agency helps more than 70,000 people every year, including the homeless, children in care, and people who need help just to put food on the table.
It is estimated that Irish families spend more than €250,000 on gifts for teachers in June each year, “a lot of which ends up in the bottom of the wardrobe or in the charity shop”, the agency claimed.
Its director Conor Hickey said: “I know from friends of mine who are teachers that while they really appreciate that children want to buy them something small and show their appreciation, they also see that there is a huge amount of waste involved when they end up taking home 15 boxes of chocolates and 10 different types of soap.”
Crosscare had spoken with some teachers “who said they would be much happier to see that money go to a good cause like Crosscare, particularly as resources are getting more and more constrained for everyone”, Mr Hickey said.