The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
SPIRIT OF GIVING
5th-graders’ latest charity project will bring smiles to kids with cancer
PORTLAND >> Four fifth-graders got a chance for an impromptu field trip of sorts Wednesday morning as they stepped outside onto the front lawn of Brownstone Intermediate School, tore the paper cover off their bottle of bubbles and blew on their wands together.
Emily Murphy and Lilly Tabellione, both 10, and Tyler Wydo and Tiana Harley, both 11, giggled as they watched the soap spheres multiply, take off on the wind or settle on the grass below.
Bubbles are just one of the items contained in the chemotherapy care bags this small group dreamed up as a way to brighten the lives of kids at the Connecticut Children’s Medical
“I wanted to do something good for kids in the community.” — Emily Murphy
Center in Hartford.
A school-wide drive recently brought in so many toys — coloring books, crayons, Play-Doh, dolls, blankets, Matchbox cars, stuffed animals, unscented lotion and lip balm, and even a tiny xylophone — that the kids were able to fill 25 bags.
These chemo care packages were Emily’s brainchild.
“I thought of the idea because my neighbor had cancer and she fought through chemo and my mom’s friend’s daughter has cancer,” she said. “I wanted to do something good for kids in the community.”
Emily’s mom jumped right in with an idea about how her daughter could create a revenue stream. She helped sell some of Emily’s old toys through Facebook, eventually raising $60.
The fifth-grader, who already had a bit of her allowance saved, set out to do chores in earnest. Every weekend since mid-February she has washed windows, swept the house and vacuumed. Soon, she had accumulated another $40 to use toward her project. The $100 enabled the purchase of 25 fabric totes.
The idea for chemo bags filled with activities and toys for children with cancer came from a friend of her mother’s, who did something similar, Emily said. Plus, “I like doing nice things for the community.”
Principal Laurie Boske, like nearly all the 200 Brownstone students Wednesday, was dressed up for “Decades Day” — an annual tradition that allows children and staff to dress up in their favorite 60s, 70s and 80s gear.
“I don’t normally dress this way,” said Boske, pulling on her white floor-length peasant’s dress and referencing her flower child earrings with a laugh. But, the principal, who is retiring at the end of June after 10 years in charge, is really proud of her student body.
“This year, I have many students in both grades that want to raise money for different projects. We just finished bring your favorite stuffed animal day and we raised over $310 for the Meriden Humane Society,” Boske said.
This latest project took off just as enthusiastically as the others.
Emily said she has a lot friends who “either their family member or they fought through cancer,” which inspired the idea. Right off the bat, she knew who she’d bring on board for the charity project.
“(Tyler is) one of my friends in class and I know he likes to do very nice stuff so I thought he’d be good for it. Tiana and Lilly are two of my best friends and I know they like to do nice things, too,” she said.
Boske got on board by emailing the teachers and parents. Once she secured their participation, she “randomly assigned homerooms for the different products to bring in to make sure we had a little bit of everything — and we collected box and boxes of items,” she said.
The students spent part of Tuesday in the office sorting all the items and filling each individual tote.
Tyler is thrilled to be a part of it.
“I’m happy I got in it because I like to do things around the community because I’ve experienced stuff like this,” he said. “I really enjoy this because I feel like it’s giving back some sort, because people who (visit patients at) CCMC don’t understand how much it takes and how their children can be at risk every day (of becoming ill) so it kind of feels like we’re paying (the staff) back for all the stuff they’ve done.”
“I’m a party planner this year,” Boske said, laughing delightedly. “It’s great to have the students aware of something beyond the walls of school — beyond Portland,” she said, referring to the Humane Society benefit, “because we’re affecting people outside our community and helping kids, making them smile, making pets smile.”
Tyler was really into spirit week with Wednesday’s hippie costume.
“I basically had all of this,” he said, gesturing to his outfit. “These are my grandma’s (orange-tinted big-framed glasses) and my dad gave me his bandanna.” Pointing to his Grateful Dead spiral bear T-shirt, Tyler said, “We just found it in the basement last night.
As for the neon orange top wrapped around his waist, “this is just my normal sweatshirt.”
Lilly followed Tyler by saying she didn’t dress up because, “I don’t have anything,” to which Boske declared, “You’re 2017!”
“Every day before (April) vacation, we just do some funny things to celebrate that it’s springtime. Members of the principal advisory group — representatives from each grade’s homerooms — picked the different themes,” Boske said.
Monday was March Madness so the kids wore their college basketball clothes. Tuesday was color wars.
“Portland colors are black and red so one grade wore all black, one grade wore all red, and then we totaled up the number of items for bragging rights,” Boske said.
Thursday’s theme was “Wacky Hair Day:” “I’m going over to (my friend’s) house and we’re dying our hair,” Tyler said. Friday is “Pajama Day.” Both Emily and Tiana wore pink and black — offthe-shoulder tops and neon hair ties around their ponytails. Emily embellished hers with neon pink, yellow and orange hair extensions. Tiana’s black tee had a big pink lips graphic, while Emily sported an “I (heart) the 80s” top and neon orange and green arm warmers.
In the fall, the school took part in a benefit for the Connecticut Humane Society, which pulled in over $300, as well as an autism awareness day. Boske said she has a group in line to create a themed day to benefit brain cancer patients at the Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven.
Emily went to the children’s care center when she injured two fingers after knocking over a glass at a restaurant, she said.
“When I cut my fingers open, I went to CCMC. They have a closet in each room and a basket of toys. If you come in for emergencies and you leave, you get to take a toy like I got to do,” she said.
It’s no surprise, with her take-charge attitude, that Emily is already thinking about her project for next year: a pink day for breast cancer.
Boske said she’s very grateful for the school community’s level of giving.
“Portland families are very generous. We raise a lot of money,” she said, especially since many benefits take place throughout the year.
As the children begin their April vacation next week, the young patients at CCMC will receive a special delivery of these care packages, put together by children just like them, when Emily’s mother ferries the children to Hartford to deliver their gifts.