Many children in central Indiana who go hungry will now have a balanced breakfast and lunch each day during the summer, thanks to the help of 150 second-graders at Fall Creek Elementary.
Teacher Sandy VanWynsberghe and her second-grade class decided to help Riley Children’s Hospital’s annual cereal drive that benefits underprivileged children who may not otherwise have breakfast or lunch during the summer months.
VanWynsberghe and her class had discussed the recent Boston Marathon bombing and the fact that a child, the same age as most of the second graders, had perished in the tragedy. Rather than focus on the suspects, the class decided to focus on those who helped, which inspired them to assist others their same age.
The class searched for ideas on an iPad, discovered the cereal drive, and brainstormed about how they would collect for the drive and what their deadline would be.
“We decided we would rely on the power of numbers and give every child in school a flyer about the drive.” VanWynsberghe said. “The project took off like crazy.”
The other five second-grade classrooms helped too; parents and friends of the children began donating breakfast servings in a drop-off box on a daily basis. The children, excited about the donations, began counting servings every day.
“One day someone said, ‘How cool would it be to use chain links?’” VanWynsberghe said, of using one paper chain link per each food donation.
Soon the chain, located in the entrance of the school, was so long that it nearly broke a Guinness Book of World Records for largest paper chain, according to VanWynsberghe. Before long, there were 6,107 chains.
“Our original goal was to collect 1,000 to 2,000 servings,” she said.
All donations for the Cereal Drive will go to 200 central Indiana food banks.
Fall Creek Elementary follows what is called a “fish philosophy,” according to VanWynsberghe. This philosophy involves playing, making someone’s day and being there for others.
On a Tuesday of the last week of school, the day’s philosophy lesson was “show compassion for others.”