WINTER HAVEN, FL—Moved by the simplicity of World Vision’s mission to help people in need, students at Jewett School of the Arts in Winter Haven, Florida, have found a cause they can believe in.
In fact, choosing World Vision and its School Tools program over the many other worthy causes vying for their support came easy.
“The students on the Legacy Project team scoured the website and all the options and chose this one to help out kids like them that deserve a positive educational experience but may not have the opportunity without assistance,” says 8th grade ELA and reading teacher Sonya Barnes.
“We are a Title I school, meaning that many of these kids are on free or reduced lunch and come from low-income families, yet helped in some way to make this happen. That was the sweetest part of it all.”
All 749 students in the kindergarten to 8th-grade school contributed to the classroom competition fundraiser to provide basic school supplies for at-risk children living in poverty in the U.S.
Not only did they learn how to organize and plan an event, they discovered how their combined efforts can have a huge impact on other children’s lives. The sense of pride in being associated with this project was palpable.
“People all over the world need help in some way and, no matter how small your contribution, it has a huge impact on the world—not to mention the impact it can have on your organization and morale,” Barnes says.
“Through World Vision, we can go beyond what we ever thought we could do and beyond what we alone can do. So many of our students were wholeheartedly invested in this as soon as they learned how different other people’s lives were. Many had no idea that the world was so big and that others had it worse than what they knew of in our own towns.”