Audubon Elementary School has designated the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as “Helen Coombs Community Service Day” in memory of a lady who served the school as an active volunteer from 1994 until shortly before she passed away in 2017.
Helen Coombs had retired after 41 years of nursing at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, and after her husband passed away, she began looking for opportunities to fill her time with meaningful activities. Her grandchildren attended Audubon Elementary School at the time, so she began volunteering at the school four days a week to make copies, prepare materials for classrooms and provide other important support tasks.
The school hosted a celebration of Coombs and her service in 2017, when she was asked why she remained as a volunteer at AES even longer after her grandchildren had moved on to middle school and beyond.
“I stay and volunteer because it helps teachers, relieves them and allows them to stay in classrooms to help the kids. I help where I can,” Coombs said.
Principal Caleb York said Coombs is still an inspiration to others as an example of the power one individual has to make a big difference in small ways.
“In remembrance of Mrs. Helen Coombs’ selfless service to Audubon, we ask that every Audubon student take part in a service project so they can experience serving and giving back. Each grade level team has worked to develop a service project,” York said.
Among the projects in which students will participate on Tuesday are:
· Making calm down/sensory bottles for other classrooms in the school building
· Book in a Bag – Students will put books in plastic bags that will be left on playgrounds around town for other children to find
· Creating blankets to send to soldiers serving overseas
· Making tie blankets that students will deliver to local nursing homes after Thanksgiving
“We believe this experience will help our students understand the importance of serving others,” York said. “This is a very meaningful way for us to honor Mrs. Coombs and all she has done for our school for so many years.”
