High school students give back with help of Handels Ice Cream

By ASHLEY LUTHERN

aluthern@vindy.com

Maggie Karmenitsa carefully chose a jacket and Spiderman mittens for a Christmas gift, but not for a relative or friend. Instead she was shopping for a complete stranger as part of the annual Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree.

Karmenitsa and her peers at Canfield High School have worked on two large charitable projects this month, one to provide children with holiday gifts and another to collect money for a children’s hospital. Student Council led the Angel Giving Tree project, which asks participants to take a tag with the age and wish list of a child. Ages range from infants to teenagers.

“In a lot of organizations, things go to other countries, but the Salvation Army is good for families that are here around us,” said Karmenitsa, who is a junior and Student Council vice president.

At the high school, homeroom is extended to 45 minutes on Fridays for “Prime Time” and many of those classes have pitched in for the bigger gifts, like bikes, said Student Council President Kathryn Mason.

“People here are capable of giving, and it’s good to help the less fortunate,” Mason said.

Mason is also a member of National Honor Society, and she and a few other NHS members organized the high school’s efforts in the Handel’s “Koins for Kids” campaign. The high school was one of 25 schools in the tri-county area participating in the campaign, which ran from Dec. 1 to Dec. 11. All of the money raised by students benefited Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley.

NHS sold paper snowmen ornaments for fifty cents each, collected donations and inspired competition between the “Prime Time” classes, Mason said.

Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley recently celebrated its first anniversary. Programs like the “Koins for Kids” are new this year, but hospital officials hope they will become annual events, said JoAnn Stock, director of development at the hospital.

“The money stays local, right here in the Mahoning Valley,” she said. “One of our key promises is that we turn no child away. This money will help pay for things like charity care and Family Center care.”

The schools that raise the most funds in each county, based on amount raised versus school enrollment, will receive an ice cream social and a DJ for a school dance. The campaign ended on Dec. 11, and the results will be released by the end of December, Stock said.

“This teaches students to give back and help others less fortunate. It also helps us increase awareness about the hospital,” she said.