YOUNGSTOWN Project by pupils fills need at holiday

The drive was part of a Christmas and Kwanzaa project.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Justin Lawrence, Denis Robinson, Robert Thomas, Ceteria Posey and Imani Al-Deen are grateful for the opportunity to reach out to their community.
The five East Middle School eighth-graders are among the 25 members of the school's Visionary Leaders group. The group, as well as the school's student council, started a community and school food drive Dec. 5 to help people in need as part of the groups' Christmas and Kwanzaa project.
"It's a good thing to participate and to come together as a group and see [other] people's situation and be grateful for what we have," Imani said.
"It feels good to help others and set an example," Ceteria added.
Distribution of items
Many of the donated food items, which include numerous canned goods, bread, milk, desserts and other products, have gone to the Salvation Army, Needle's Eye Christian Counseling Services and radio station WRBP-FM (102 JAMZ) to be distributed. Other items were used to prepare food baskets that have been given to eight needy families, including one whose home caught fire and who is suffering financially as a result, explained Lynette Miller, a guidance counselor who's coordinating the event. Each basket contained about $150 worth of groceries, she said.
Began 20 years ago
Miller said that the idea began more than 20 years ago when she was a guidance counselor at the former East High School, which was in the same building as the middle school. Miller noted that the high school had more student groups, but the middle school's projects have been successful for the last five years largely because of pupils' and teachers' efforts. She praised faculty members for donating many individual items, such as potatoes, toiletries and bread.
Miller also coordinated a recent assembly at the school to reinforce to pupils the significance of Kwanzaa, a seven-day festival held in late December and early January. Pupils and faculty were treated to several African dances that members of the Harambee Youth Organization performed. The local organization, founded in the early 1980s, features current and former East Middle School pupils, as well as kids from all over Youngstown. They are scheduled to perform at various churches in the city during the seven days of Kwanzaa, which is from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.
Miller pointed out during the assembly the meaning of various Kwanzaa symbols, including the red, black and green flag. The colors are symbolic of sacrifice, culture and the land, she told the audience of several hundred pupils, faculty and teachers. Other symbols and artifacts on a display table were a candleholder and ears of corn that represent a unified family tree and children in the family, respectively.
What it means
Kwanzaa, a Swahili word meaning "first or first fruits," was started in the mid-1960s and is designed to recognize and celebrate African history, culture and heritage. Each of the seven days represents part of the Nguzo Saba, or "Seven Principles of Blackness." The principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.