Annandale students did their part to help fellow Americans in New York and Washington, D.C., last week.
With the aid of teachers and staff, students from the high school, middle school and elementary school organized a fund-raiser, which collected $6,102.33 for the American Red Cross.
“The kids decided that they couldn’t go to New York to help out, so they could either give money or blood,” said Cory Larson, dean of students at the middle school.
They decided to give money.
Sixth-grader Hayley Vogt had an idea to raise money through a bake sale, but the school decided it wouldn’t be prudent to have students toting in baskets of baked goods. Security also suggested against it.
That was when the dean of students at the high school, Bob Payne, called middle school principal Dean Jennissen said.
He had been talking to the students at the high school and found that they really wanted to contribute somehow.
Together Larson, Payne and Bendix Principal Jim Unger began to organize.
It may have been three adults who got the ball rolling, but the kids are the ones who really carried it out, Larson said.
At the elementary school, first-graders brought in whatever was in their piggy banks at home, Unger said. That included bags of pennies, nickels and dimes.
At the middle school, students gave up their “Friday malt-money” to support the victims out East.
Every Friday students have the opportunity to buy malts during lunch period, Jennissen explained. The cost is $1. A number of the students decided to forego the anticipated treat last week in favor of donating that dollar to the Red Cross.
“This is a good time to celebrate what kids are really like, when so often we only look at negative actions,” Jennissen said.
“They really have big hearts,” Larson concluded.
For principal Unger, the fund-raiser served a second purpose.
While donating money served a necessity for those out East, it also provided a way to get parents right here in Annandale to sit down with their children and discuss what was happening.
Unger’s hope was that children didn’t just mechanically bring in money but had some realization of why they were doing it.
The fact that students brought money from their piggy banks suggests they had some understanding.
“You know that money was coming from them, and that suggests they had some realization of what was going on,” Unger said.
Bendix Elementary raised $3,100 in three days, the middle school raised $2,500.22 and the high school raised $501.62.
The schools will continue taking donations for the Red Cross for the rest of the week, Larson said. Donors can bring checks or cash to the school office. Checks should be made out to the American Red Cross.
For information on giving to the Salvation Army, call the Roseville office at 651-746-3400 or write a check to Salvation Army, 2445 Pior Ave., Roseville, MN 55113.