October 20, 1999
Students dress down for charity donations
Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Students at Immaculate Conception Middle School have found a unique way to raise money for charity: by dressing down.
On the third Friday each month, students get to eschew their staid blue and white uniforms for their favorite casual clothes. Plunking down a small amount of change for this privilege, the money raised on Grub Day, as they call it, goes to a local charity chosen by the class hosting the event for the month. This month, students in the four fourth-grade classes chose to donate the $48 raised last Friday to the Goodwill Inn Homeless Shelter.
"We are doing something not merely talking about it," said Jon Newman, a student in Kathy Blankenship's fourth-grade class, which collected this month's money.
The students in the host grade for each month's Grub Day decide together where to donate the funds, looking at area charities to decide how they can help most. Fifth-grade students hosted September's Grub Day and they chose to give the $45 the school raised to the Cherryland Humane Society. Each of the school's classes will have three chances during the school year to choose a charity to receive the Grub Day funds and can choose the same or a different charity each time.
The fourth-graders chose the Goodwill Inn this month after learning that some people do not have homes to live in. Their teacher led them in a discussion about homelessness after showing them a movie about it and they decided to help out that cause.
"We saw a movie about homeless people and we thought it wasn't fair that other people didn't have homes," said Chelsea English, fourth-grade.
Sometimes a choice of a charity for Grub Day is the beginning of a long-term relationship. After learning about homelessness and how they can help out, students in the fourth-grade decided to adopt the Goodwill Inn Homeless Shelter as their Christian service project for the year. One plan they have created so far is to help homeless kids during the Christmas holidays.
"We're going to bring in books, toys and games for them because they had to leave their own stuff behind," said Robby Marsh, fourth-grade.
For years, the tradition of Grub Day raised a little money each month that was rolled into a general fund to buy special treats for the kids during the year. With this year's school theme of Pray, Reflect and Act, the school staff decided to give the money back to needy causes in the community, not just keep it for the students. The students went right along with this plan, enthusiastically participating to raise as much money as possible each Grub Day.
"In previous years, the kids never knew what we did with the money," said Bill Gorney, principal of the school. "At the end of the year, we would spend the money back on them. But this year rather than spend it on them, we decided to give it to others."
The teaching staff also told kids that it was no longer mandatory to pay to participate in Grub Day or that there was a set fee. They found that without a minimum, many kids give more than a quarter and that virtually everyone anted up after all.
"The ideas of charity, compassion and community are things that we teach here," Gorney said. "We teach them that you have a responsibility to others also, not just to yourself. We wanted to raise their consciousness a little bit and make them aware that the poor and less fortunate will always be with us."