Kids Care Club Gives Lessons

In Caring And Volunteering

By Tanjua Damon

Some Hawley third and fourth graders are learning about caring and volunteering during an after-school program called Hawley Kids Care Club.

About 40 students meet once a month in the lower level gym at the elementary school, where they brainstorm project ideas that service people locally as well as internationally. Kids Care Club is a national organization. Three parents, Cindy Anderau, Nancy Scallon, and Isabel Cummings, lead the club helping children understand what volunteering is all about.

“I personally think children in Newtown have a lot,” Ms Anderau said. “They want to give.”

The Hawley Parent Teachers Association sponsors the club.

“[I hope the children] learn to volunteer,” Ms Cummings said. “And that it’s important to give back. They are getting ideas of things they can do.”

The three organizers hope that volunteering is instilled in the students while they are young so they can continue when they become older.

“I do a lot of volunteering myself. Children have so much to give. Sometimes all they need is a little guidance,” Ms Scallon said. “It doesn’t take a lot. A little goes a long way.”

So far the students have made healthy Snack Packs, which they donated to Harmony House, a shelter for women and children in Danbury, and the Danbury Department of Children and Families. Motts donated many of the snacks. The students learned about how they could volunteer at Ashlar and designed Thanksgiving cards for the residents there. The group launched “Project Cozy,” which involved the collection of used outerwear that was sent to the needy in other parts of the United States. The students, along with the Hawley Student Council, collected more than 120 coats. Shipping was sponsored by Land’s End.

In March the students brought in items to send to the soldiers serving in the War on Terrorism. The group wrote letters and made patriotic pins to send. They are also holding a “Read for Refugees” read-a-thon. The students are asking people pledge money for the number of books or pages they read. The money will be collected in April and all the money earned will go to Points of Light Foundations/Kids Care for Afghan Children Fund. For every $4.50 reaised, American Woolen sends a blanket for a child in Afghanistan.

“It’s fun,” Shannon Barra said. “I like to do projects.”

The students seemed to enjoy the opportunity to serve other people even if they do not know the people they are helping personally.

“I think it’s a nice idea because it makes people feel good and know other people are thinking about them,” Jane Moran said. “It like it. It gives me a change to help people.”

The students are also seeing how helping others makes them feel.

“I think it’s a good thing to do because you are caring for other kids,” Adam Green said. “I’m learning about volunteering. It makes me feel good.”

To find out more about the national program Kids Care Club visit www.kidscare.org.