June 15, 2005
Kids impart civic lesson
Oak Park K-Kids shoe tree project provides footwear for needy
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Learning the basics of service, members of the Oak Park K-Kids club have contributed to a school facelift, provided shoes and food to area homeless people, decorated nursing homes and donated money to the House of Hope.
Most recently, these 22 fifth and sixth grade students at the school held a car wash during Memorial Day weekend that raised $293. They donated this cash to Goodwill to help with homeless programs. The students also created a shoe tree in the school's lobby this spring, inviting all members of the school community to bring in unwanted footwear. The K-Kids club has donated 50 pairs of shoes to Goodwill so far and continues to gather more.
The students have taken a special interest in homeless issues and welcomed Jerry DeRousse, at the time the Homeless Outreach Program Coordinator for Goodwill, to some of their meetings. DeRousse, who has since left that position, made the plight of homeless real to the students.
"Some of us live close to the people he was talking about," said Abby Woughter, a sixth-grade student and president of the K-Kids club.
DeRousse told students at a recent meeting that some of the shoes they had donated were being worn and appreciated by the homeless right now.
"When he came in before we donated the shoes, he told us tons of stories about the homeless people in the area," said Emma Schilkey, sixth grade, the club's vice president. "It made me feel connected with the people."
A few students were so taken by the project that they reached into their own pockets.
"It's been an interesting thing because we've actually had kids go to Payless and buy some shoes themselves," said Eric Dreier, principal of Oak Park of the shoe tree.
The Oak Park K-Kids club formed at the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year. The students meet every Wednesday, said the school's advisor Jodie Brady, and sometimes host guests from the community.
Last year, the students raised funds to have the school's lockers repainted, a project completed over Christmas break. Students have also raised funds for various projects by selling hand-made Valentine's Day cards and stuffed Easter eggs.
"They run the meetings themselves and decide on the projects," Brady said. "These guys decided on their own to do a spaghetti dinner for the homeless."
The K-Kids Club is a junior service organization of the Kiwanis Club, counting more than 600,000 kids in 80 countries as members. The organization's goal is to help students build character and develop values while also completing community service projects. Kiwanis Club also has community service programs for junior high, high school and college students.
Locally, Kiwanis Club members Ann Reed and Wayne Schmidt are the co-advisors for the Oak Park K-Kids Club. They attend the weekly meetings with the kids when they can, but Reed noted that they mostly sit back while students determine a direction, think up ideas, plan activities and implement them.
Over the past two years, Reed has enjoyed watching the club members learn the ropes of helping others, which occasionally requires them to rethink their plans.
"They've learned that sometimes they can be a bit too ambitions and have to back off a little bit," added Reed, a member of the Kiwanis Club for approximately three years.
"It's really their club," she noted. "If they were to ever get stuck, of course I would help them with that and every once in a while I've had to pipe up with something."