Olivia's Charity Makes Good

Olivia has always been a very caring person, ever since she's been a young child.  She is always interested in helping others, whether it means giving of her time or money if she thinks it's a good cause.  This is something we try to encourage when we can.

After the earthquake struck Haiti, the news was filled with reports of the crisis.  We talked about it a little and she knew of the tragedy and how many people lost their lives and their homes.

The following week at school there was a time set aside to talk about current events.  Olivia was sitting in class when she raised her hand and asked the teacher if she had heard about the terrible earthquake in Haiti.  Her teacher said she did and talked about the suffering that was happening on the island.   Olivia and one of her best friends, Emily, and two other girls were whispering amongst themselves and came up with a great idea.  They raised their hands and when one of them was called, the girl mentioned that they thought they should have a fund-raiser for the survivors.

The teacher thought that was an excellent idea and agreed to organize a collection throughout the school to give to the Red Cross.

The first thing to do was to get out the word that the class was taking up a collection.  So for her birthday, Olivia had a sleepover with three of her good friends and a good amount of time was spent preparing a poster to hang in the school.  The day before, she walked with a neighbor friend to a nearby drugstore and bought the poster board with her own money.  The girls came up with a very good slogan: "Cities in Haiti are falling apart, donate your money from your HEART!" and they decorated the board with butter flies starts, and hearts. I think they did a very good job.

When Olivia took the poster to school, it turned out her and her friend's sign was the only poster.  The other students who had made a sign did so on regular sized paper.  The teacher decided to hang the poster inside the classroom, which disappointed Olivia somewhat because she wanted it to be hung out in the hallway for the whole school to see.

Over the next few weeks, the class collected coins and dollars from children in the school (and their parents).  One teacher in each grade was assigned to collect from the other classes and each week Olivia's teacher collected from those teachers and deposited the money in the bank.  She gave an update of the amount each week.

Finally at the end of February, the drive was officially closed and the teacher gave the final tally for the collection.  The class had collected $2900 in coins and approximately $100 in bills for a total of $3000.

The teacher had done some research and found a worthwhile charity which provides a "Shelter in a Box" which is basically a large tent with essential tools and supplies needed after disasters.

http://www.shelterbox.org/index.php

With the proceeds, the class sponsored one ShelterBox for Haiti with the remainder of the funds going to the Red Cross.

Good job Olivia!  We're very proud of you!