Hope and Compassion
from 3rd Grade Community to the Homeless Community
One little
girl, moved by compassion to help others, found two friends to share her hopes
for the homeless, and thus the warmth of her caring was kindled into a burning
desire to make a difference. Gaby Stout
is that little girl who dreamed of making a difference in her community by
helping the homeless; she shared that dream with her classmates, Kylie Jean and
Katie Hastings. After verbalizing her
vision, Gaby came home from school and went to work researching a familiar
cause, the Rose of Sharon Soup Kitchen; she had heard of them before. For her birthday she had requested donations
for the homeless and her mother told her about Huntsville’s community soup
kitchen. Gaby decided to champion the
cause for Rose of Sharon Soup Kitchen and, with a little assistance from her
father, she prepared a donation flyer to show her friends.
The third
grade girls were excited about their purpose and shared the flyer with their
compassionate teacher, Mrs. Christian Lindsey. Knowing this was not just an
everyday occurrence, Mrs. Lindsey led the girls to discuss their plan with
their school principal, Mrs. Kerrie Bass.
After talking with the girls and their teacher, Mrs. Bass approved their
vision of a Third Grade Community Service Project to raise donations for the
Rose of Sharon Soup Kitchen. |
| Sharon Walker shares Rose of Sharon's Mission |
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| Kylie and Gaby meet Ann Miller |
Connections
were growing between students and adults, but the circle wasn’t complete until
the plan was shared with Sharon Walker and Ann Miller of Rose of Sharon. Teachers and staff were lining up behind this
cause to help the girls. After hearing
about the project, the school librarian, Cyndy Dunning, visited Rose of
Sharon to meet Sharon Walker to let her know of their dream.
Ms. Walker extended an invitation for the
girls to come by and Gaby and Kylie were able to visit the kitchen and meet
with Ms. Miller. The girls created a green screen Community Service Announcement in their school library to air on the school news network and the official donation drive began with hundreds of flyers going home with the students of Mt. Carmel.
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| Creating a Public Service Announcement in MakerSpace |
Three young
girls have taken their hopes and turned them into action. The response has been steady and donations
are finding their way to the organized area that this little team of community
leaders has worked to organize and sort donations daily.
Sharing this will help show our students that
their ideas can become a powerful change in our community and make a difference
in the life of a fellow community member.
Donations will be collected at Mt. Carmel Elementary until Wednesday,
May 18th and then delivered to the Rose of Sharon Soup Kitchen. For a list of needed items visit: http://roseofsharonsoupkitchen.org/
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| Donations are Accepted till May 18, 2016 |
