Red Nose Day marked at REC
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
The gymnasium at Rayen Early College Middle School resembled a costume part where everyone dressed as Rudolph.
Thursday morning’s red noses, though, weren’t about a reindeer. They were about children who are living in poverty across the United States and poorer countries throughout the world.
Since Monday, students at REC collected more than 250 cans of food while teachers collected $200 — all for the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.
The effort, coordinated with Youngstown State University, was part of Red Nose Day, a program of Comic Relief Inc. with a mission to raise money for children and young people living in poverty. The campaign tries to do that by making people laugh.
This is the first year for the event.
“The fact that there are people who have to choose between food, education, housing, transportation and utilities bothers me,” sais Aalissia Thomas, 12, REC sixth-grader.
There are 31,870 Valley children who are food insecure, and Second Harvest Food Bank is one of the organizations that tries to address that, she said.
The students’ efforts were recognized by a visit from YSU President Jim Tressel and 21 WFMJ-TV, which broadcast a segment of Thursday’s noon show from the school.
“It’s a day of reminder that we need to care about one another,” Tressel told students.
REC seventh-grader Nadia Reddish, 13, said the event is about spreading awareness that there are less-fortunate people in the world.
Jullian Santiago, 12, and a sixth-grader, said he and his classmates are lucky to have the opportunity to attend REC and YSU.
REC is a feeder school for Youngstown Early College, a program that allows students to earn an associate degree either from YSU or Eastern Gateway Community College by the time they graduate high school.