Celebrating the 'thoughtful spirit of giving' in District 204
Anne Frank once said, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." I find inspiration from these words as they affirm the unselfish efforts of our Indian Prairie Unit District 204 community.
Hundreds of young people in District 204 have demonstrated the truth in Anne Frank's statement during the past few weeks through their efforts to take care of others both within and outside of our community. I couldn't be more proud as I reviewed the list of service projects our students engaged in recently.
Our mission as a district is to prepare students to succeed and we believe a critical part of success involves actively collaborating with others. It is a unifying message that strengthens our district when we work together to help those less fortunate.
Over the past six weeks, I have witnessed firsthand how lives have been transformed in amazing ways from this collaborative spirit. The outpouring of hope and charity has been overwhelming.
Our students and staff raised more than $45,000 by organizing bake sales, sponsoring giving trees and coordinating clothing drives. Generous donations supported more than 850 District 204 students and as many as 3,000 students from other parts of the country during the month of December.
At the onset of the holiday season, our students adopted more than 120 families who were experiencing hardship this year and collected more than 700 toys, 23,089 food items and 1,400 pounds of candy to donate to those in need.
Students across the district wrote letters to those serving overseas in the military and provided hand warmers to 700 soldiers. Our students provided coats, boots, mittens and gloves for 300 of their classmates.
I could go on and on, as the list of our students' good deeds is lengthy.
Some may wonder how our students know to step up and make a difference. Why do they give so freely?
The answer is in our community. The thoughtful spirit of giving has been modeled for them time and again by their families, friends and, of course, by our many outstanding business and civic organizations. Many of these community groups stepped forward and participated in holiday gift projects and clothing drives that impacted nearly 1,000 District 204 students and families in need this year.
Words can never express my full gratitude to our students, staff and community whose generosity continues to surpass all expectations. In these first weeks of 2010, our schools are already implementing programs to help the people in Haiti. If our efforts in 2009 are any indication, our community will step up once again.
• Kathy Birkett is superintendent of Indian Prairie Unit District 204.