Students 'Adopt' Families in Community

Ally Phillips
12.20.07

Each club or organization at Papillion-La Vista South has their own reason for their existence. Some groups are putting aside their original, preconceived agendas and helping out the community by adopting a family for the holiday season.

The adopt-a-family program is where a group of people decided to financially help a family for the holidays. The groups donate money or simply give gifts from the family’s wish list.

Faculty and staff at South received an e-mail from Ms. Schnabel, a school district social worker, asking for volunteers to help out by adopting a family. Sponsors of the Future Educators of America/Education Academy, Student Council, Choir, and Key Club all decided to help and give back this holiday season.

“Some of the students were looking for things to do for the community and Ms. Schnabel e-mailed us asking for volunteers,” librarian Lorelei Perkins said.

Perkins is in charge of the FEA and had assigned one of the three presidents to work on the project with a group of other students in the academy.

“So far we’ve sent out e-mails to the teachers asking for donations,” senior Cassie Roberts said. “We also put change jars in the teachers lounge.”

The FEA adopted a family with a younger child who simply wishes for toys to play with. Along with that, Perkins had other gifts in mind.

“We would like to get the family gift certificates to stores and restaurants,” Perkins said.

Staff members also helped the FEA by donating gifts themselves.

“The staff at South has donated money and items to support the FEA,” Perkins said. “Someone even offered a Christmas Tree.”

Choir had also decided to help out with the adopt-a-family cause.

“We are doing two things: we are using a small portion of money from their fundraisers and students are being asked to give $1 towards donation for the cause,” vocal teacher Cheri Helmer-Riensche said.

Helmer-Riensche thought doing this project would be beneficial to both the family and the students in choir.

“I wanted our singers to do something for the community and I thought it was an inspirational thing to do,” Helmer-Riensche said.

When students were told about what they were doing, they were excited to help out.

“I think its going to be really fun and I think its worth it because it will help people in the long run,” sophomore Erin Mazy said.

Student Council are helping families that might not celebrate Christmas, but still have things they need.

“Things they need are diapers, socks, toilet paper, tooth paste, and we might go out and buy some gas cards also,” Stu-Co sponsor Katie Settles said. “There is a committee that has a set date to go shopping.”

The response to the project was much greater than expected for this being just the first year that each of the organizations participated.

“There has been so much success that we will continue with it because our goal is to give back,” Perkins said.

For students who are not part of any of the organizations that helped, the FEA put loose change boxes that were located in the library and cafeteria for those students to donate money.

“There are seven or eight people on the committee,” Roberts said, “ We are going to have students at every lunch with a jar or box to try and get students to help donate.”

Even though each organiztion had their own way to raise money, they all had onething in common. They all wanted to make this holiday season one that a family in need would never forget.

photo by Ally Phillips