Have I Ever Told You How Lucky You Are?

February 9th, 2008 at 4:55 pm

As University students, the members of the Sacred Heart ONE Campaign have realized one thing; the positive correlation between education and being able to make a difference in the world. So naturally, when the weekly challenge was to integrate ourselves further into the community, we turned to local (very wealthy) Frenchtown Elementary School.

Our target audience consisted of three 2^nd grade classes, so we didn’t want to terrify the kids with the over simplified facts that many ONE members are familiar with. So like any intelligent, free thinking individual, we turned to Dr. Seuss for a little assistance. ONE had previously won a poster design contest here at SHU and our prize was a $50 AMEX gift card, so with our “prize money” we bought three copies of “Have I Ever Told You How Lucky You Are?” and a few extra ONE bands.

Ten of our students and staff arrived at the school at about 1:30 on Friday, armed with the books, bands, and a few packets of construction paper. We went into the classes and introduced ourselves, stating that we were with the ONE Campaign, whose goal was to make life a little bit easier for those less fortunate than ourselves. We had a very informative few minutes, asking them how many meals they ate that day, where they were going after school (most said ‘home’), etc. Then we told them that not everyone was as fortunate; some people don’t get to eat every day, let alone 3 full meals. Cue Dr. Seuss. We read and afterwards passed out the construction paper. We asked them to trace their hands, and inside, to write one thing that they learned. A few selections:

I learned not to waste food. – Breanna

I learned to keep the environment clean – Katie

I learned that I am very lucky to have toys to play with. – Zachary

I learned that if you have extra clothes you can give them to the poor – Annie

I learned that I want to help others – Paul

Anyway, after spending a little more time with the kids (who were adorable, mind you) and taking a few more group pictures, we forced ourselves out of the school because we still had more work to do. We have a surprise for them that we’ll be giving them on Monday morning; a giant ONE poster made up of all their hands with the fingers locked together! It was a colossal effort that we pulled off in a very short amount of time; and there is no doubt in our minds that our devotion to the principles of the ONE campaign have sparked a few future-grassroots activists to join in the fight against poverty. Huzzah!!

~ Mike Fazzino, Sacred Heart University