As the old axiom goes, “It is better to give than to receive.” And another axiom states that “Charity begins at home.” At John Wilson Intermediate School 211, helping others through charity is a way of life.
As part of the school’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness of social issues, students and staff participated in the annual Penny Harvest, sponsored by Common Cents. For three months, everyone brought in all of their pennies until large sacks were collected.
“The Penny Harvest has helped us come together as a school by raising money for charity,” said teacher Glenda Van Horne, the school’s Penny Harvest coach. “We formed a student leadership group, then the students gathered the pennies from everyone in the school.”
The students created a name for their group, the “Life Savers,” assumed leadership responsibilities, then looked at issues facing the community. “We wanted to find an organization that would help kids who were facing serious problems,” said Alonzo Providence, one of the school leaders. “I just wanted to help the community and New York.”
“I joined the group because I wanted to help people who were not as fortunate as I am,” said Leawanda Herbert. “The money would go to people who would use it for something that would benefit them.”
“Helping people made me feel more confident in myself and helped me to become a better person,” added Tesha Augustin. “We helped people who really needed our help.”
“We also wanted to choose an organization dealing with cancer because of the recent deaths from cancer of two staff members, Elizabeth DiBella and Erica Bickell,” added Van Horne.
Part of the awareness process of the program was that the student leaders had to participate in a Philanthropy Roundtable to decide how and where to distribute a community grant from Common Cents.
As a result, a $1,000 grant was made from the school to the Have A Heart Children’s Cancer Society in Huntington, New York. The funds will assist families of children who have cancer.
For their efforts, the Wilson students received certificates of achievement from Common Cents.
“I am so proud of our students for the dedication, spirit and responsibility they showed towards the project and the people who will benefit from the project,” said Buffie Simmons-Peart, the school’s principal. “We teach our students how to be leaders in the community and this is just another example of the wonderful work they’ve done.”
This year, in addition to the Penny Harvest, IS 211 students also participated in a school wide clothing drive to benefit community youngsters, and also joined City Harvest, where two times they collected non-perishable food that was donated to community residents and organizations.
John Wilson Intermediate School 211 is located at 1001 East 100th Street in Canarsie.
