Blue Mountain Elementary Students Help Children in Liberia

Blue Mountain Elementary Students Help Children in Liberia
Story by Caron Oswald

Blue Mountain Elementary School (BME) students recently collected school supplies and clothes to send to children in Monrovia, Liberia, an area hit hard by the Ebola epidemic.

Blue Mountain Elementary students collect backpacks, school supplies, shoes, clothing and canned food for children in Liberia.

Principal Rachel Wardecke knew this project would be a good fit for the Hamburg, Pa., school’s year-round Helping Hands project, where students serve others.

Wardecke says that projects like this teach the children how to be part of their world, make a difference and understand selflessness. “We want to help them grow in character as well as academically,” explains Wardecke.

The needs of these children stunned and then motivated the students to get involved. “They have no shoes, sleep on the floor and maybe have one meal a day,” says Michael Lutsel, a seventh-grader. “The schools have no desks or chairs. [Students] lay on the floor and share books.”

Zachary Leser explains their action plan. “We collected backpacks, school supplies, shoes, clothing, books and canned goods.”

“It gives them a chance to see what other children have. It gives them a chance to share,” adds teacher Kathy Goley.

It is not unusual for parents to sell the backpacks for food money. This didn’t bother fourth-grader Kylie Oswald. “I believe that I would rather have food than a backpack.”

Pictured Above: Blue Mountain Elementary students collect backpacks, school supplies, shoes, clothing and canned food for children in Liberia.