Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
MSD students learn gift of giving - News Now - The Flint Journal - MLive.com
When Curtis Wise peeks into the small room at the Michigan School for the Deaf that's stuffed with furniture, food and clothing, his face lights up.
"This is the first time I've ever collected and given to the homeless," said Curtis, 17, of Clio, his eyes wide as he looked over the items scattered across the floor and stacked in piles against the walls. "We have so much stuff."
Staff at the school's ">New Beginnings Center facilitated the monthlong collection project with hopes that Curtis and his two classmates would gain a better understanding of poverty and what it means to be homeless, said teacher Keri Weiss.
"I really broke it down for them and it became: What do we need and what do we have?" Weiss said.
The boys quickly and enthusiastically agreed to take on the project, Weiss said. They even decided to give up their weekly class breakfast to put the money used to purchase the food toward a bake sale that would benefit the effort, she added.
"They really got ahold of it and thought it was an amazing idea," she said. "Every day it's talked about even if I don't bring it up."
The project soon blossomed into an effort that included the entire school.
"They were very dedicated to doing something for someone else," said Principal Cece Winkler.
Students in all grades dropped off items they collected at various points on the campus for Curtis and his classmates Tommy Grosch, 10, and Jimmy O'Reilly, 14, to pick up once a week. Some took up their own projects, such as building baskets to fill with food and other items that would be donated with the rest of what was collected.
"When we started we only had a couple things and now it's so much," said Curtis, who became so excited about the project that he offered to make daily rounds through campus to pick up donated items.
Representatives from the Genesee County Community Action Resource Department today were scheduled to pick up the items that will soon fill the homes of those getting back on their feet after living in shelters.
"It's a real eye opener for the kids collecting because they don't know what it's like not to have anything," said Paul Ballard, who supervises the homeless outreach program at the resource department. "It opens up another avenue for learning so they realize how fortunate they are. It puts them into a different world they've never been involved in or seen."
Weiss said she hopes the collection will become an annual project.
"It just keeps getting bigger and bigger," Weiss said. "We never knew how much we would get."
When Curtis Wise peeks into the small room at the Michigan School for the Deaf that's stuffed with furniture, food and clothing, his face lights up.
"This is the first time I've ever collected and given to the homeless," said Curtis, 17, of Clio, his eyes wide as he looked over the items scattered across the floor and stacked in piles against the walls. "We have so much stuff."
Staff at the school's ">New Beginnings Center facilitated the monthlong collection project with hopes that Curtis and his two classmates would gain a better understanding of poverty and what it means to be homeless, said teacher Keri Weiss.
"I really broke it down for them and it became: What do we need and what do we have?" Weiss said.
The boys quickly and enthusiastically agreed to take on the project, Weiss said. They even decided to give up their weekly class breakfast to put the money used to purchase the food toward a bake sale that would benefit the effort, she added.
"They really got ahold of it and thought it was an amazing idea," she said. "Every day it's talked about even if I don't bring it up."
The project soon blossomed into an effort that included the entire school.
"They were very dedicated to doing something for someone else," said Principal Cece Winkler.
Students in all grades dropped off items they collected at various points on the campus for Curtis and his classmates Tommy Grosch, 10, and Jimmy O'Reilly, 14, to pick up once a week. Some took up their own projects, such as building baskets to fill with food and other items that would be donated with the rest of what was collected.
"When we started we only had a couple things and now it's so much," said Curtis, who became so excited about the project that he offered to make daily rounds through campus to pick up donated items.
Representatives from the Genesee County Community Action Resource Department today were scheduled to pick up the items that will soon fill the homes of those getting back on their feet after living in shelters.
"It's a real eye opener for the kids collecting because they don't know what it's like not to have anything," said Paul Ballard, who supervises the homeless outreach program at the resource department. "It opens up another avenue for learning so they realize how fortunate they are. It puts them into a different world they've never been involved in or seen."
Weiss said she hopes the collection will become an annual project.
"It just keeps getting bigger and bigger," Weiss said. "We never knew how much we would get."