PLANTING THE SEED
Preschoolers spend year donating to homeless program
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.» A few weeks ago, while walking with classmates, four-and-a-half year old Max Malinosky spotted five pennies on the street. Immediately he told his teacher, Heather Stewart, about his discovery. Malinosky and his classmates have collected money all year for a special reason, so instead of pocketing the loose change he knew what to do.
“Let’s give it to the homeless shelter,” Stewart recalled the preschooler saying. Stewart then walked the block or two to the nearest box in downtown Saratoga Springs to deposit the money.
“It was a moment where it was like, ‘This is why we’re doing this,’” Stewart said. “It’s amazing just the fact that the parents have supported their children in this way. It’s just pennies, but they add up over a year.”
On Friday morning, 15 children at Pre-K in the Park visited Shelters of Saratoga one final time before the school year ended, after giving $625.86 to the shelter thanks to their efforts. Each child then planted a flower in the front yard.
“When children are really small, it’s hard for them to understand money equates to a house or whatever is needed, so in addition to the money we thought let’s bring something to the shelter,” Stewart said. “Let’s do some gardening.”
Four-year-old Ben Robinson couldn’t wait to
jphelan@digitalfirstmedia.com "When children are really small, it’s hard for them to understand money equates to a house or whatever is needed, so in addition to the money we thought let’s bring something to the shelter." — Heather Stewart
plant his perennial. He said it felt good to do something for the shelter.
Each parent had their children bring a flower.
“That way if parents come back in the future and donate or take the kids back here, they see their flower and it brings that memory even deeper,” Stewart said.
Stewart asked the children before Friday how flowers made them feel. The children smartly told her they make them feel happy and joyful. She encouraged the children that planting flowers at Shelters of Saratoga could provide the same feelings.
“People who are having a hard time, they are the ones who really need to feel happy and joyful, so let’s plant flowers for them so they feel happy and joyful as they’re going through this process of reinventing themselves,” Stewart said. “That’s what this place is supposed to be about, helping people who are down and out ... revive their life; get themselves back out there and flowers kind of represent that.”
Each month, Pre-K in the Park walked the money collected to the boxes on Broadway. On Friday, the final $18 was donated to the shelter. Most of the children in Pre-K in the Park will begin kindergarten. But Stewart said she hopes parents will continue this work with their own children.
Similar to what Malinosky did when he spotted the pennies.