Albuquerque Public Schools
Cocoa + Compassion = Community Change
Students at Double Eagle Elementary raise money to combat homelessness.
Recently at Double Eagle Elementary School, third graders Riley Greenberg and Atticus White were honored for raising $600 at a hot cocoa stand they organized earlier in the year.
Although an impressive effort, these Double Eagle students weren't the only ones who lent a helping hand to their community. In January 2026, Double Eagle launched a fundraising campaign called "Jars for Change," with proceeds benefiting Saranam LLC, a local nonprofit that supports homeless families in Albuquerque.
According to Double Eagle School Counselor Meredith Griffin, the school "has been using the Character Strong SEL curriculum for the past two school years. Each month, we focus on a different character trait, like respect, perseverance, or cooperation. In January, our school learned about empathy."
During an assembly, Detective Kindness Holmes and sidekick Watson (also known as Griffin and librarian Chelsea Darrall) introduced the concept of empathy and gave the school a kindness mission: to select one nonprofit to benefit.
"As a school-wide activity, students voted on which nonprofit they wanted to benefit," continued Griffin. "They voted for Saranam." Students then brought spare change to fill up classroom jars for that nonprofit.
Eager to go one step beyond, students Greenberg and White then organized a hot cocoa and cookie stand to further support school giving. Griffin said the students came up with the idea "when talking about how cold it is outside and wondering how some homeless people stay warm. Together they decided to host a hot cocoa and cookie stand."
Double Eagle students raised $1,610 as a whole school. Combined with the $600 from the stand, Double Eagle Elementary was able to donate a total of $2,210 to Saranam.
Griffin happily reported that Saranam was "incredibly grateful that a group of elementary students could raise such a large sum of money just by combining our spare change. They wrote our school an enthusiastic thank-you letter. It was a powerful learning experience for all of us."
Even though this was the first year that Double Eagle tried the "Jars for Change" initiative, Griffin said that "I definitely plan on making it a recurring event every January moving forward. The students will have the opportunity to vote each year for the nonprofit they want to benefit."