From Teddy Bears to “Pennies for Patients,” Liberty Students Busy at Making a Difference
Starting early in the year, Liberty’s National Honor Society and Student Council began planning community service opportunities, with the direction of their faculty sponsors, Rhonda Smith and Becky Shirley.
Their first service opportunity was in the fall in the form of a canned food drive. They collected non-perishable items for two weeks, collecting 4,793 pounds that Liberty families donated and were then delivered to the Denton Community Food Bank.
In December they undertook two projects, the annual Teddy Bear Round-Up and Christmas cards for the Texas Hope group. For two weeks, 550 stuffed animals were collected and delivered to different organizations that work with underprivileged children in the Denton area. Some of the stuffed animals even went to children in Mexico through a church’s mission trip over the holidays.
During the same time, all of the students at Liberty, from Early Childhood preschoolers to 12th grade students, joined in to make Christmas cards for juveniles in Texas detention centers. Each young person in those detention centers received a personalized card from a student at Liberty. Liberty students provided cards to seven different juvenile detention centers and one card for each client at the Denton State School totaling 2,400 cards.
Their last endeavor to date was sponsoring a campaign for the “Pennies for Patients” program. Students helped save lives by participating in this campaign that benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. “Pennies for Patients” raises money for research to help find a cure for Leukemia and blood cancers in children and young adults under the age of 20.
The Middle School and Upper School grade levels at Liberty had a friendly competition to see who could collect the most money for “Pennies for Patients” during this three-week campaign. At the end, Liberty students raised $2,219.37, with eighth graders bringing in $602.77 to win the competition.
Steve Abrey, manager of the North Texas Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s school and youth programs, said, “As this year is the first that your school has participated, you all have done a wonderful job.” He went on to say that “Patients here in North Texas will benefit from your efforts as we move closer to finding a cure for blood cancers.”
By raising this much money, Liberty joined the “LifeSaver 10 Club,” which is a recognition given to schools who raise more than $2,010 in the year 2010.
Last year, a record-breaking 625 schools in North Texas participated, raising more than $605,000. This year, the North Texas Chapter hopes to exceed that goal with the help of Liberty and many others collecting change for this service-learning program endorsed by the Texas Association of Student Councils (TASC). This year, the goal is set at $650,000, and with “Pennies for Patients,” Liberty is helping the North Texas Chapter reach that goal.