By Mark Ambrogi
Hoosier Road Elementary School students are doing their part to help those less fortunate.
“Our classes were talking about problems that we saw in our community and a lot of them were coming back to the homeless and that was something they really wanted to learn about and how (the students) could make an impact or difference in the world,” said Leslie Fisher, a second grade teacher at the Fishers school. “We read lots of books and talk to our classes. We did some research online about how homelessness affects people.”
Fisher noticed a story about The Mustard Seed of Central Indiana holding a shoe and furniture drive for families in need. Natalia Blondet, executive director of the Fishers-based Mustard Seed, came to the school and told the classes about her nonprofit.
Hoosier Road third grade teacher Shailey Parrish said the mission of the Mustard Seed is to help rebuild the lives of families and individuals who have suffered disasters or personal tragedies by providing household furnishings. Some of these individuals were formerly homeless.
“These are people who have worked hard to establish a home but once they move into a home a lot of times they don’t have things,” Fisher said. “The kids were wanting to do something to help her so that’s where we started to think what we could do to have a drive and get the awareness out. She said then they had only been open for five months so that’s where why we thought we could help get the word out.”
Parrish said students set up a booth at a health fair last month to tell families about the Mustard Seed. Parrish said the students raised $250 in donations.
Parrish’s class created YouTube videos to create awareness about the Mustard Seed’s mission. Fisher’s class created flyers to distribute around the school and community.
For more, visit mustardseedindy.org
