Eat. Learn. Play. hosts 11th Annual Christmas with the Currys Holiday Event
For this year’s capstone event, Eat. Learn. Play. brought the joy of reading to every elementary school student (17,000) in the Oakland Unified School District
Eat. Learn. Play, along with Co-Founders Stephen and Ayesha Curry, hosted a surprise holiday celebration for the 11th Annual Christmas with the Currys—for this year’s capstone event Eat. Learn. Play. brought the joy of reading to every elementary school student (17,000) in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)—delivering beautiful gift boxes from Literati full of books to students at all 49 OUSD elementary schools. Each of the 17,000 holiday gift boxes included five books (85,000 books total) for each student.
"Bringing our village of partners and supporters together to benefit Oakland youth through our annual Christmas with the Currys celebration is one of our favorite holiday traditions," said Stephen and Ayesha Curry, Co-Founders of Eat. Learn. Play. "Earlier this year we launched a new movement to transform the school experience for a generation of Oakland students —reaching Oakland youth where they eat, learn, and play each day. This year, we wanted to make sure Christmas with the Currys brought critical resources and a lot of joy to students throughout Oakland. There is no greater feeling than seeing these students smile from ear to ear as we bring the spirit of the holidays into their schools. We’re so grateful to our Rat. Learn. Play. partners and supporters who continue to make this annual tradition a reality. We’re already excited for next year!”
On December 15th, Eat. Learn. Play. hosted a special Christmas with the Currys event at Oakland Unified School District’s (OUSD) Manzanita Campus. To celebrate with their community, the Currys surprised 800 Oakland students, bringing delight through holiday-themed gifts and activities inspired by the organization’s EAT. LEARN. PLAY. pillars.
The day began as students arrived at the campus and received beautiful gift boxes filled with books, packed by Eat. Learn. Play.’s corporate partners and community volunteers, which was delivered across 49 elementary schools throughout the community. The Eat. Learn. Play. Bus was on-site to deliver meals, fresh produce, new backpacks , socks, water bottles (courtesy of Curry Brand and Under Armour) and other goodies.
Students participated in holiday-themed activities such as ornament decorating, snowflake making, musical chairs hosted by DJ D Sharpe, cookie decorating, holiday field day games and more. Of course, students were also able to see up close and take photos with the Warriors’ championship trophies. Stephen and Ayesha also joined the students at the schoolyard design booth where they were encouraged to draw and collaborate on their dream schoolyard. Adding to the merriment, the students were taken by surprise when Santa, revealed to be Warriors Forward Trayce Jackson Davis, paid them a visit.
Students then gathered outside, where Eat. Learn. Play. made a special announcement that in 2024, Manzanita Campus will be the 11th OUSD campus (and the first in 2024) to receive a revitalized schoolyard from Eat. Learn. Play. and KABOOM!.
“For Eat. Learn. Play., Christmas with the Currys serves as a special year-end capstone,” said Chris Helfrich, CEO of Eat. Learn. Play. “As an organization committed to impacting the lives of children and families in Oakland, our holiday efforts aim to make the season a time of joy and hope. This year’s celebrations saw beautiful gift boxes of books delivered to all 17,000 students across 49 Oakland elementary schools, culminating in a fun event full of holiday games and special gifts for students. None of this would be possible without our partners, donors, and volunteers coming together to make a meaningful difference in the lives of Oakland students.”
Christmas with the Currys festivities began on Giving Tuesday, with a volunteer week bringing together Eat. Learn. Play.’s along with more than 1,000 corporate partners and community volunteers assembled gift boxes filled with books for over 17,000 Oakland students. Thanks to these volunteers and our partners at Literati, all Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) elementary school students will receive a box of new, high-quality, diverse children’s books to read and enjoy with their families as a special gift from Stephen, Ayesha, and Eat. Learn. Play.
"Christmas with the Currys is something that the people of Oakland have come to anticipate every year, knowing that two remarkable, high profile leaders care so much about them," said OUSD Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell. "This year, the celebration happened at our Manzanita campus where our students were overjoyed with the support from the Currys and Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation. The event provided students with snacks, gear from Under Armour, and most importantly, literacy kits. And through this effort, all of our 17,000 elementary students are receiving the literacy kits filled with books. This partnership with the Currys and Eat. Learn. Play. is a big reason why we are seeing critical improvements in literacy. On top of that, they made the big announcement about a new playground coming to Manzanita. We couldn't be more excited. I thank the Currys and Eat. Learn. Play. once again for always being there for our schools and our young people."