March 29, 2000
WJH students contribute to Honduras mission
By Justin Trapp
Herald staff writer
Many families and students spend their spring vacations in warmer climates, and Marian Pollie, Traverse City West Junior High School Teacher, is no exception.
But this year, Pollie is flexing her civic-mindedness in Honduras, where she is working as a volunteer for Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH). It seems that everyone wants to do their part to help the lives of those less fortunate, including Pollie, the eighth-grade Student Council, and eighth and ninth-graders in the Junior National Honor Society.
The Student Council at West Junior High raised $700 from their Valentine's Day dance and donated it along with the $300 raised students in the Junior National Honor Society.
The $1,000 will be used at an orphanage in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The orphanage is called Heart of Mercy House and serves children afflicted with the HIV virus.
Since Pollie was already going to Honduras on her own mission of hope, taking the $1,000 check directly to the orphanage over spring break seemed like a good idea. While there, Pollie hopes to take pictures of the children, which she will bring back when she returns on April 3.
Speaking about the students at West Junior High, Pollie noted, "They are making a world of difference in the lives of sick children in Honduras."
Dr. Wes Schulz, a local dentist, also donated to the cause, giving toothbrushes and paste, as well as a group of office workers in Lansing, who donated more than 100 pair of socks, Spanish language books and Disney videos.