The Glenwood Middle School student body has a lot of heart as was demonstrated over the past six days. The students contributed to the Mission of Love’s relief efforts to Haiti.
The idea for the collection came through science teacher Eric Diefenderfer. He received the request for items from his aunt, Kathy Price, who is also the founder/director of Mission of Love based in Austintown.
“She sent out an email about holding collection drop-off sites at local Handel’s Ice Cream stores,” Diefenderfer said. “I thought we here at Glenwood could do better than that and have our own collection.”
Diefenderfer couldn’t do it alone, so he brought the Student Council on board and they were excited about the project.
“We made signs up, announced it over the P.A. system and spread it by word of mouth,” said Kristyn Wolf, Glenwood Student Council president.
The whole project actual began last Thursday. Students, teachers and staff began bringing in items such as gently used children’s clothing, bed linens, food and new socks and underwear. On Tuesday, with just one more day to go, the school had filled 24 boxes that were scheduled to be picked up on Thursday by Price herself.
Price has already arranged for flights through the Denton Program that allows military aircraft and crews to deliver humanitarian aide throughout the world. The program gets the aide to those in need while aircraft crews get on-the-job experience, making it a win-win situation for all concerned.
Diefenderfer said the collection has really gone well. The students responded with a lot of items to help the Haitian children. The program also brought a good feeling to the Glenwood students.
“I feel happy just to be helping people,” Wolf said. “I hope this donation does a lot for them.”
