Ridley kids open hearts, wallets
RIDLEY PARK » Even young children realize the suffering of other children caught up in the aftermath of such natural disasters as hurricanes, flooding and earthquakes.
“I was watching the news today and it said they (children) are not back in school yet because of the hurricane,” said Chris Capozzoli, a fifth grade student in Tracy Morris’ fifth grade class at Lakeview Elementary School.
Chris is a member of the class Leadership Team that spearheaded a coin collection in the school organized by Morris that has raised almost $900 that will be sent to the Save the Children Foundation to help schools in Texas devastated by recent floods get back on the road to recovery.
“We called the collection ‘Coins Because We Care’ because it was by children for children,” said school Principal Gloria Goldey. “We started collecting right after Hurricane Harvey and then (Hurricane) Irma came along and we kept on collecting.”
Goldey said the collection officially ended on Sept. 22 with $820 raised. But word is more money is on the way and all told the final figure will be about $900.
“We stress the importance of
“We stress the importance of kindness and giving back in our school and they (students) certainly showed it with the collection. And it’s what they hear at home, also.” — School Principal Gloria Goldey
kindness and giving back in our school and they (students) certainly showed it with the collection,” Goldey said. “And it’s what they hear at home, also.”
Fifth grader Aiden Rhoades said he felt bad about what happened in Texas but glad that his sister, who lives in Texas, was not in an area affected by the flooding. “Here we don’t get a lot of bad weather,” he observed. Nikki Naumowich said she hopes some of the money her school collected can help someone rebuild their flooded house. “People need a lot of stuff for their houses,” Nikki said. Students in Morris’ class saw a slide show about the storm devastation in Texas, prompting Corrine Jeantet to comment that the storm was “really bad” because it destroyed a lot of houses.
Morris laughingly spoke of the weight of the coins collected.
“I did something like this years ago and I forgot how heavy coins are,” she said.
The Leadership Team proudly displayed a banner made in class that resembled a large check with the amount collected in large numbers.
The next project the school is gearing up for is the “fill the bus” food drive in which the Ridley School District students and personnel will fill a school bus with food items collected at the district’s annual Homecoming celebration and parade on Oct. 22-21.