AURORA | Rows of cafeteria tables at Sable Elementary School are festooned with the all quintessential holiday staples — from fresh produce and bread to pies and flour. Rivaling even Whoville’s feast, more than $4,000 worth of food from King Soopers awaited eager families early Friday morning.
Industrial real estate firm Prologis doled out free goodies of all kinds to about 100 students and their families at Aurora’s Sable Elementary. The business provides funds for food and sponsors more than 40 families with “giving trees” around the holidays. Located in Sable’s backyard near Pena Boulevard and Interstate 70, Prologis has been helping the school with donations and charity work for more than two decades. This particular event is in its sixth year.
“I wish we had something like this when I was in school,” said Andrea Torres, who stopped by to pick up food and gifts for her niece and nephew, Andy and Anedina, who attend Sable Elementary. “It makes the holidays much easier and the kids will be so excited.”
Torres said Andy and Anedina are in a single-dad home, and that can sometimes make their situation difficult — both financially and in regards to free time. He was working Friday morning, which is why his sister came to pick up the presents and groceries for a holiday meal.
Families are selected based on teacher recommendations, said Connie Payne, a family liaison at Sable Elementary.
“You wish you could give to everybody,” Payne said as she pointed families toward the gym, where gifts consisting of clothes and educational toys were waiting.
Sable has a higher percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch — 87 percent — than even the Aurora Public Schools already high district average of 71 percent.
Prologis first reached out to Sable about 21 years ago when they realized the school was near the company’s east Denver headquarters. But the long-standing partnership is about to change as Prologis relocates to Downtown Denver. The company is planning to establish a similar charitable relationship with a school near its new downtown office, leaving the fate of their Sable partnership up in the air.
Prologis is communicating with other companies in Sable’s area that might be interested in helping the school, said Sara DeWildt, a property accountant with Prologis who stopped by to see the holiday event in action on Friday.
“Nothing is set, but we’ll be do something to keep this going,” DeWildt said. “Everybody has a soft spot for Sable.”