Kids pitch in to help out Rescue Mission

Some of the children have been raising funds for years.

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

POLAND — Many youngsters cringe or complain when asked to perform mundane household chores such as cleaning their rooms and taking out the trash.

But Alex Spratt, Serena Stoneberg, Madeline Landry and Kayleigh Fagert were more than willing to do those tasks and more — in the name of a worthy cause.

For about two months, the four sixth-grade pupils at McKinley Elementary, 7 Elm St., as well as their classmates and others at the school, earned money as part of a fifth annual class project. The proceeds went to the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Youngstown, and they came up with more than $1,250.

Each year, the pupils have come up with more money for the Rescue Mission than the year before.

For his part, Alex said he shoveled his driveway and helped around the house to come up with funds. Alex began as a donor when he was in second grade and has participated each year since, he noted.

Also helping around the house to earn her allowance and contribution was Madeline. Her chores included cleaning the basement and washing dishes after meals, she said.

“It feels good to help the community,” said Serena, adding that she watched her neighbor’s residence and cats while the neighbor was on vacation.

“I wanted to help the less fortunate,” added Kayleigh, who helped her mother with the dishes and performed other everyday chores.

Understanding goals

Despite never having visited the Rescue Mission, the four youngsters said they understood the mission’s main goals. That was enough for them to want to help, several added.

“I feel good to help people who need stuff we already have and that we sometimes take for granted,” Alex said.

Sharyn DiMuzio, a sixth-grade language arts and social studies teacher who came up with the idea, said she originally had her pupils sell lemonade and cookies to raise funds for the mission. Shortly after that, DiMuzio continued, she handed her youngsters the mission project, with the stipulation that they earn, not ask for, money.

Some of her sixth-grade donors started taking part in the effort when they were in second grade, when the project got under way, she explained.

Even though the mission generally sees its highest number of clients during the winter, an unusually large number of people are there now, explained Jim Echement, the facility’s director of development. On occasion, there’s an uptick in the number of clients in the spring because some people receive utility shut-off notices, Echement said, adding that neither he nor Rescue Mission personnel have an explanation for this increase.