April 21, 1999
Sixth graders collect money for Kosovo refugees
By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
Nick Dennis and his fellow sixth-graders at Old Mission Peninsula Elementary School wondered how they could possibly change the plight of the thousands of Kosovo refugees fleeing war-torn Yugoslavia.
"It made me sad that families were being separated and that they were taking people out of their homes," said the 12-year-old Peninsula Township resident.
So Dennis decided that the best way to create change was to collect it - dime by dime.
After reading a newspaper article on a local Kosovo refugee fund-raising effort, Dennis suggested that his class start a pop can drive. His fellow sixth-graders showed their support by organizing a three-day collection campaign that included going door-to-door during a springtime snowstorm last Sunday.
Proceeds from the can drive were donated to St. Joseph's Catholic Church, one of five area churches collecting money that was in turn donated to an organization headed locally by Dick Dell'Acqua. On Wednesday, the students presented the owner of the Omelette Shoppe and Bakery with the net results of their pop drive - a check for $454.
Pointing to a pull-down map, Dell'Acqua showed students that their contributions would be part of a relief mission going to a refugee camp in Macedonia.
He also noted that every dollar donated would be used to buy $65 worth of medicine and food delivered directly to Kosovo refugees. With the help of a calculator, students figured their pop drive had actually raised $29,510 in supplies.
Making an impression on lives half-way around the world, the generosity of these sixth-graders also made an indelible mark closer to home.
"I was delighted and impressed with the students that this was really important to them," said Old Mission principal, Karen Schmidt.
"This is an important lesson as reading, writing and science. This is social studies right now."
Schmidt said that the war in Yugoslavia and the Kosovo refugee situation has been a daily topic of discussion at school. She noted that students watching the flight of refugees on television and in newspapers view this as more than a mere study of current events.
"They look at these pictures and the refugees look like kids up and down the hallway. They realize that it could be anyone of them," said Schmidt, who noted the students have shown this generosity before through food drives and 'adopting' area families at Christmas time.
For sixth-grade teacher, Deb Larimer, the pop can drive is indicative of how Kosovo remains in the forefront of her students' minds.
"They have a greater understanding and appreciation of how fortunate they are in their own lives," Larimer said. "They realize the freedoms they have and the ability to make choices."
Speaking before Larimer's sixth-grade class Wednesday, Dell'Acqua reminded students of these freedoms.
"Because you were not born and raised in Michigan do I have the right to say to your parents, 'You can't stay here, you have to leave,'" asked Dell'Acqua, who took part in three refugee supply missions during the Bosnia war in 1996.
"Not only that, but you have 20 minutes to get out of your house or you will be killed."
Listening to Dell'Acqua speak, students were curious about how their contributions would be used. Some wondered, however, if they were taking the right side in a conflict so deep-rooted in history.
"It isn't a matter of sides as much as it is a matter of people that are malnourished and that have no place to sleep," Dell'Acqua said.
"You're taking the right side anytime you help someone who is suffering."