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by Jesse Klein
LOGAN TWP. -- Imagine rooms full of children who have
nothing more to write or color with than stubs of crayons, pieces so small
that many of them could barely grasp them in their hands.
That is what Master Sergeant Daniel Hagan saw first
hand when he began volunteering to visit Baghdad schools this fall as part
of the Good Neighbors Program.
Hagan, a resident of Logan Township, was deployed to
Iraq in September as part of the 166th Airlift Wing, Delaware
National Guard, and he immediately joined in the volunteer effort at
Sather Air Force Base that bused him and fellow soldiers into Baghdad each
Friday to deliver supplies to area schools.
But what was sorely lacking in the soldiers deliveries to the children
of Baghdad were things that we here in the United States take for granted,
crayons, coloring books, markers and notebooks. So the first chance Hagan
got during one of his brief 15 minute weekly calls home, he told this to
his girlfriend, Logan Elementary teacher Kimberly Williams.
Eighteen years of teaching second and third grade had
taught Williams that with a little leadership and coordination that
youngsters can move mountains.
She immediately met with Logan Elementary School
Principal Robert Fisicaro and asked permission for her students to
initiate a drive to collect these much needed supplies. Their plan was to
amass as many notebooks, crayons, coloring books and markers, as 7 and 8
year olds could gather over a two week period from Dec. 3 to Dec. 14
.
While they were at it, Williams also had them request
donations of toothpaste and toothbrushes that Hagan had told her were
always in short supply as part of the Good Neighbor Program.
The final step in the student’s project would be to
box up all the collected materials and ship it off Dec. 17 so that Hagan
and the other volunteers would have it in time for Christmas.
While most children in Baghdad are Muslim and do not
celebrate Christmas, Williams’ thought was that the children of Logan
Elementary would learn the fundamental art of charity during this holiday
season so that they could feel first hand the reward of giving to those
less fortunate.
As an example Williams discussed different customs of
charity work performed during the holiday season.
For example, some Jewish families spend the first
several days of Hanukah collecting and delivering charity also known as
Tzedakah, and only in the last several days are their any gifts received.
And of course as all of us are aware of the
significant amount of charity sought and received by Salvation Army
workers during this time of year. Those few coins that we place in pots
outside stores and on busy shopping streets, provide food and shelter
throughout the year to those in need.
While Williams was excited about this project for her
schoolchildren she was unprepared for how deeply they would be affected by
its success. Each morning she would have three or four student
representatives from her class go around the school and collect the items
that had been brought in that day. If they returned with only three sets
of crayons she said they were distraught worrying how they could ever
collect enough to make a difference. |
