An exceptional student is our inspiration! Kaylee Felix, age 10, a student at Indian River School, collects Thanksgiving dinner for MVRSD families.

KAYLEE FELIX, 10 YEAR OLD INDIAN RIVER SCHOOL STUDENT, COLLECTS 30 THANKSGIVING BASKETS

Kaylee Felix is a student at Indian River School in Canaan, NH.

She was talking about the need for Thanksgiving Baskets with longtime school employee Peggy Vincent, who is a founding member of Indian River Helping Hands, a non-profit based out of the school that provides assistance to families in need.

Kaylee came up with the idea to challenge her friends to help her create 30 Thanksgiving Baskets. For each can of corn, peas, and cranberry sauce and each box of stuffing donated, Kaylee matched the item with her own money.

Undeterred by the size of the project, Kaylee presented her plan for the Thanksgiving baskets to the Enfield Fire Department, Enfield Lions Club, the Enfield Fast Squad and Friends of Mascoma Foundation and asked them to donate to help her meet her goal. These generous community organizations donated funds to help Kaylee purchase a turkey, crescent rolls, milk, a pumpkin pie, butter, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash and boxes to pack everything in for 30 families. Kaylee shopped the store flyers for bargains and even figured out how to get a rain check from a local grocery store for the pies. No detail was spared, Kaylee insisted the boxes even have butter for the veggies, mashed potatoes and rolls and milk for the potatoes and of course enough to drink with dinner.

To put the finishing touch on her Thanksgiving vision, Kaylee recruited family and friends to join her at the Enfield Fire Station to assemble boxes adorned with a picture she drew and her “Happy Thanksgiving” message. She provided instructions to everyone packing and did a final quality check before loading the boxes to be brought to the school for distribution tomorrow evening (Wednesday, November 18th).

Kaylee’s ambitious plan at only 10 years old, while amazing, comes as no surprise to many community members. Her family has a long history of organizing charitable giving in our community. Kaylee’s grandmother, Carol Felix, is a long-time organizer for the Upper Valley Ecumenical Council Food Drive – an effort that provides boxes of food at Thanksgiving to families throughout the 5 towns in the Mascoma Valley Regional School District. Kaylee’s mother, Beth Felix, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Enfield-Mascoma Lions Club, the Enfield Fire Association and Friends of Mascoma. Beth plays a prominent role in many local charitable events – most notably the recent Warm Winter Clothing Giveaway, upcoming Annual Toy and Food Drive and Tuesday night Bingo. Kaylee can always be seen joyfully assisting her mother, father, family, teachers, and friends in serving our community.

Kaylee and her family have their ears on the heartbeat of our community and an uncanny knack for identifying needs and pairing them with resources.

Friends of Mascoma wishes to congratulate Kaylee on her great work and looks forward to working with her on future projects!