Several times throughout the school year we request participation from our Franklin families in Community Awareness projects. We gather canned goods, fruit, books, small toys, or sandwich ingredients to donate to area shelters and help the children understand the need to give to those less fortunate than themselves. Some of our projects are annual, others relate to current events nearby or in our world community.

In the past, Franklin children and their families have assembled goodie packages delivered to firefighters, rescue workers and police officers working to restore the Pentagon; collected baby wipes that are in high demand for cleansing during field operations for our soldiers in Iraq; made donations as children helping children to help rebuild an orphanage devastated by the Tsunami in Sri Lanka; and sent toiletries to survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

October Pet Project: Feeling it's never too early for children to learn to respect and care for all creatures great and small, The Franklin Schools have proudly adopted Friends of Montgomery County Animals (FMCA) as a pet project. FMCA is a Montgomery County based non-profit, humane organization established in 1974. Support goes to cats, dogs and horses too through the donation of money, animal toys, canned dried pet food, pet carriers and more!

November Sharing Baskets: As part of our classroom Thanksgiving celebration, we create food baskets for local families who are in need. Parents are asked to choose with their child and donate a non-perishable food from one of the Basic Four Food Groups discussed in class. Boxes for the food are decorated in a fall theme by the children.

February Penny Drive:Many years ago our namesake, Benjamin Franklin, coined the phrase, A penny saved is a penny earned. In observance of Presidents' Day and as part of our commitment to community outreach, we sponsor a Penny Drive. All proceeds are donated to The Children's Inn at NIH in Bethesda. February always finds it raining pennies as Franklin families shower us with coins!

April Sandwiches to Shelters: April finds us with a real breadwinner of an idea as we ask Franklin families to donate a lunch food item to add to our boxes of sandwich fixin's to go to area shelters. Deli meats, cheeses, bread, fruit, chips, pretzels, pickles and napkins head our list of yummy lunch fare