Saturday, December 19, 2009
By ASHLEY LUTHERN
aluthern@vindy.com
This holiday season a group of middle school students set an example of giving.
The 17 members of the Poland Middle School Junior Leadership group led the school’s efforts in the Handel’s “Koins for Kids” campaign. The middle 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 went to Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley.
Junior Leadership members asked fellow students for donations during lunch and recess. Everyone who donated received a paper snowmen ornament to hang on a tree in the school. The students also asked for contributions at a recent school dance, said PJ Ginty, an eighth-grader in Junior Leadership.
“It’s good because it gets other kids in school involved with the project,” added fellow eighth-grader Matt Slaven.
Junior Leadership is a group at the middle school that promotes qualities like service and responsibility. Only eighth grade students can be in the group, and they have to submit an application.
“We are always looking for something to do out in the community,” said Pam Angelilli, the group’s advisor.
“Koins for Kids” benefited Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, which recently celebrated its first anniversary. Programs like the “Koins for Kids” are new this year, but hospital administrators 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.
But for students at the middle school, “Koins for Kids” was more than a competition.
“We get to help out the local kids who are less fortunate,” said Eighth-grader Marissa Gray.