MediaGraphicGen5.5×5 Share on FacebookTweetFollow us
Read More
Hazelwood Students Raise More Than $16,800 for Haiti Relief Efforts
Students, staff and families at schools throughout the Hazelwood School District have raised $16,841 to assist with relief efforts in Haiti after the country suffered a devastating earthquake in early January. Since moving to action, donation amounts ranged from a few hundred dollars to more than $3,000. Some schools held campaigns for a few days, others for a week, and still others, a while longer.
Fundraising activities included collecting change, offering uniform-free days and spirit days for a small donation, T-shirt sales, pencil sales, purchasing links for paper chains, hearts and paw prints, class competitions and much more.
Organizations such as the American Red Cross, Kids Against Hunger, Meds & Food for Kids, House of Hope orphanage in Haiti, Service International and Haitian Life Ministries are beneficiaries.
The American Red Cross will benefit from donations from Arrowpoint, Brown, Jamestown, Jana, Lawson, Larimore, Russell, Townsend and Walker elementary schools; Hazelwood Central, Hazelwood East, and Hazelwood West middle schools; Hazelwood West High School, as well as from students in Arinn Kirchoff’s class at Hazelwood East Early Childhood Education.
At a small presentation at Hazelwood Central Middle, Deane C. Adam, director of youth services with American Red Cross, accepted their donation of $1,733.
Multiple challenges were set at Hazelwood West High School, resulting in donations of approximately $3,600 from “H3 – Hazelwood Helps Haiti.” Students sold ribbons, held fundraising competitions among first hour classes and sold T-shirts with a special design. Profits from concession sales were donated, as well as admission charges from varsity sport events.
House of Hope, an orphanage in Haiti, is benefiting from student efforts at Barrington and McCurdy elementary schools. At Barrington, the student council collected change through the end of January for Kids
Against Hunger, an organization affiliated with House of Hope. Pastor Chad Langdon and Bambi Lynn of Hope Lutheran Church received a donation of $950 at an assembly on behalf of Kids Against Hunger. Langdon said the money would be used to buy bags of rice with vegetables and soy protein. Each bag feeds six people and the bags cost about $1 each. McCurdy students collected $100 and first aid and personal hygiene items.
Service International, a disaster relief organization, received $730 from the sale of Smencils, scented pencils made from recycled newspapers, at McNair Elementary School. They were sold for $1 each before school in a three-day period.
Since August 2009, the National Junior Honor Society at Hazelwood Northwest Middle School has supported Meds & Food for Kids, a St. Louis based organization working to cure childhood malnutrition in Haiti. To date, they have raised $700.
Haitian Life Ministries, an organization that supports orphanages, will receive more than $800 from Jury Elementary School’s “Hearts for Haiti” campaign. Students, their families and staff made donations to purchase hearts that were displayed in the main hall at school.
In the days after the earthquake, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) partnered with Convoy of Hope in Springfield, Mo. for Kits 4 Kids. DESE asked schools to voluntarily donate personal hygiene items for 100,000 kits. Hazelwood East High School, Hazelwood Central Middle School, Hazelwood East Early Childhood Center and Armstrong, Barrington and Garrett elementary schools participated, and together, the schools created and sent more than 590 kits.
In the coming weeks, more schools in the District will undertake efforts to support those in need in Haiti through activities such as shoe donations for Soles 4 Souls, and continued efforts to collect personal hygiene items for Kits 4 Kids. (story provided by Hazelwood District Communications Dept.)
