WESTFIELD – Franklin Avenue elementary school’s “K-Kids,” a 3-5 grade club sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, held its first annual Pajama Day fundraiser on Friday at the school.
Students paid $1 and faculty paid $3 for the privilege of wearing pajamas to school. The money raised was for “Our Community Table,” the Westfield Soup Kitchen, which serves hot meals Sundays through Friday evenings from 5 to 6:30 p.m. to people in need in the Greater Westfield community.
“We came to realize that they have to pay rent, electric and phone bills. Some of our families use the soup kitchen,” said third grade teacher Julie Neuser, one of the K-Kids’ advisors. She said the K-Kids went around and talked about the soup kitchen to each class for the project.
Neuser said over 150 students and three-quarters of the staff participated, raising $243 for the soup kitchen. “The kids were amazing,” she said, adding that they hope to make Pajama Day an annual event.