Building Schools in Afghanistan

Every year our little family does a  fundraiser around Christmas time. We started this tradition because we wanted our kids to have something else to think about and focus on besides the ME, ME, ME of getting presents! Two years ago we did school kits for less fortunate kids at a school in Provo. The kids absolutely loved that project and got super involved with their classes at school and with our neighborhood. We got to deliver the school packets to the kids in Provo at their school in their classrooms. It was one of the neatest experiences we've had as a family.

 This year we decided to do something that the kids could really get involved in. We collected pennies for an organization called Pennies For Peace. The above picture is a picture of the kids holding all the pennies and money they earned-- including some $1 bills and $5 bills. Honestly, I was surprised that the kids were willing to give ALL they had saved and earned by doing extra jobs here and there. They gave it all. Pennies for Peace is an amazing organization. Anyone out there read the book "Three Cups of Tea"? This organization was founded by the same man who wrote that book. He was climbing K2 in Pakistan and got altitude sickness and had to turn back because he was so sick. His friends all went on with out him.

He stumbled upon a village and those who lived there took care of him and nursed him back to health. Once he was back to not being delirious anymore he noticed there were a ton of school-aged kids running around the village all day. He asked the adults why they weren't in school and they said they didn't have a school; they didn't have teachers. It was too expensive for them to hire teachers to come to their village because they were too far out. He couldn't believe what he was hearing: all these kids and no school; no learning. He decided after he was healthy enough he was going to raise funds and build a school there.

 After many years of working and trying, and starting the Pennies for Peace organization, he raised enough money to build a school. By this time Muslim extremism had become a common, known topic among Americans and this man's thoughts were that if the children in Pakistan could get a real education they would not turn to religious extremism. Education truly would open doors for them and give them all the options in the world. So, we decided that collecting and working for pennies and change was something that the kids could really do and something that they could encourage their friends and classmates to participate in.

We knew that 1 penny = 1 pencil and that 2 pennies = an eraser. 15 pennies can get a notebook and $20 can equip a student for 1 whole year of school! So, we started out on our mission. We made flyers, we talked to our principal, we talked to all the teachers at our school and they were all on board. We had 2 big jugs at the school where the kids could bring their donations too. We encouraged the kids to get creative and think about ways to find spare change or earn some money, not  to just ask their parents for some money for a fundraiser. Something else I liked about this program is that is got our kids thinking about kids clear on the other side of the world! And our efforts

now could create future leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan that had a real education and value for learning and life. What a difference that would make for all of us. In the end, we ended up collecting 48,312 pennies!!!! For those of you having a hard time converting that, we raised $483.12! We were thrilled and the kids had a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped us!

Family Service Project

My sisters-in-law and I were talking.

I know; nothing unusual. But this time, we were on a mission.

We wanted to make Christmas different this year. We were all in the car together, along with my mother in law, and we decided that instead of giving eachother gifts for Christmas, we wanted to spend that money on a service project for someone in need. Not only did we want to do a service, but we wanted to involve our children. We wanted them to feel the joy that comes from giving and serving someone else. We wanted them to learn that Christmas is more than just getting gifts. And we wanted it to be as hands-on for them as possible.

This idea came a few months ago. We talked about a whole slew of ideas, and nothing really happened for a while. I found myself getting nervous that we were going to miss the boat because we (I) had procrasiand too long. But then, my great SIL Cherry, found out about a school in Provo, that is a Title 1 school. This means that 75% of their kids live at or below the poverty level. This school was short on everything. They were running out of all school supplies.

So, we decided to adopt a class from the 2nd grade. We wanted to gather as many school supplies as we could for them. We would take the money that we would normally spend on a Christmas present and put it towards buying school supplies.

There were also 5 kids that did not and would not have coats this season. Each of our families received the gender and size of a child who would not have a coat and bought one for them. We found a really cute puffy trench coat for a little girl. We hope she likes it!

Back to the school supplies idea. It was a great idea, but how to involve the kids more? Just going to the store and buying stuff didn't seem like enough. I wanted them to be invested enough that they could feel how much these kids needed and how happiness and joy comes from thinking of others, not ourselves.

So, we decided to type up a letter and send it around to our friends and neighbors. I emailed to some of my friends, while the kids went door to door to some of our close neighbors and friends. Connor, McKay and Makenna also had the idea to ask their teachers if they could have a donation box in their classrooms and ask the parents of their classmates to donate to another school in need, if they could. The kids helped me type up a letter to send home with their classmates.

We got a huge response!

We have such great friends and neighbors! Each day the kids would come home and tell me, "Mom, so-and-so brought in this, and our box is almost full!" Connor's teacher from last year also participated in the project and let us put a box in her room, too. As each day went on, the kids were more and more excited. Connor would remind his class every day to remind their parents to send in their donations. He really took ownership in this project.

By the time all was said and done, we got enough donations, that not only did we have enough to supply one 2nd grade class; we supplied the whole, entire 2nd grade! That is 85 kids, total! We had so many supplies; we were exstatic!

By the time of assembling the kits, we had enough for each kid to have:

• 2 Notebooks
• 5 pencils
• 2 glue sticks
• 1 pack 24 crayons
• 1 box of colored pencils
• 1 pencil sharpener
• 1 pair of scissors
  

These are the supplies we started out with. One problem we had is that the gallon sized zip lock bags were not going to be big enough to hold 2 regular sized notebooks. So, what kind of bags to put them in? We didn't want to do just a grocery sack from a store with the name plastered on the front. That seemed a little tacky. Then, Cherry came up with the idea to use Target bags. I thought this was brilliant! No name across the front, and the Target bulls-eye looks a little Christmas-y.....red and white......right? Now, where to get the bags? I had a couple in my cupboard.....but they were all smashed and wrinkled. I decided to call Target and they donated 85 of their plastic bags to us.

Thanks, Target!

In one of the donation boxes in the kids' classrooms, someone had given 2 pencil pouches from the restaurant, Sweet Tomatoes. This pouch included a pencil, a ruler, an eraser, stickers and tomato tattoos. It was pretty cute. We wished that all the kids could have a pencil pouch, but at at least $1/ pouch we were talking a minimun $85 more dollars. So, I called Sweet Tomatoes and asked them about these pouches. Was it a special promo? Were they still offering the pouches? The guy asked how many we needed and I told him....."Um, 83." He said, "Sure, we'll have them ready by tomorrow morning." I was speechless and shocked! They were so willing to give!


Here are the kids packing up the kits. They were so excited to finally be putting these together. You can see how excited they are to be with their cousins and to be packing things up. The fruits of their labors were beginning to be seen.


Here we are a Spring Creek Elementary. This is all the stuff we ended up with! 85 kits for 85 kids. 4 huge wicker baskets full of stuff for teachers, 20 pair of mittens donated by the Activity Day girls in my ward and 30 scarves also donated by the activity day girls. The little cousins are holding bags of candy canes to pass out to the kids. They were so excited!

Here are the kids, passing out the kits.

Some of the sweet kids, opening their kits. One little girl said, "Am I dreaming???" Another girl said, "I've never had colored pencils of my own!!! Thanks!"

It was so touching! They were so grateful.

Here are all our kids, with one of the classes.

As we left, one class gathered in the hallway and sang, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

Here are all the proud cousins after a job well done. Both Cherry and I felt like we didn't even need anything for Christmas. Our hearts were already full.