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Feb. 19, 2010
By Chris Umscheid
SOLON ECONOMIST
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Sylvia Havlicek stands outside her Lakeview Elementary School classroom with the poster and jar she has been using to collect donations for earthquake relief in Haiti.
(Chris Umscheid) |
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SOLON - A devastating earthquake reduced most of the island nation of Haiti, and its capital, Port-au-Prince, to piles of rubble on Jan. 12. As the aftershocks continued, aid from around the world has poured into the crippled nation.
Aftershocks were felt in Solon too, as people of all ages joined together- or individually- to open wallets, piggybanks, and pockets to send what help they could to people they will likely never meet.
"I want to do something to help out," Lakeview Elementary second-grader Sylvia Havlicek said after seeing the catastrophe on TV. "I need to help these people"
Sylvia e-mailed her teacher, Sheri Jones, for permission to have a donation jar so people could make monetary donations. The idea was an instant hit with Jones.
"I was thrilled!" Jones said when she read Sylvia's e-mail. "I'd been wanting to so something for Haiti and felt this would be great for the class" Since then, the project has gone beyond the walls of classroom 2D.
"It's become an awesome project for our class and our school," Jones said. Students came up with the slogan "Our Heart is With Haiti," which adorns a banner in the main entryway.
To date, Sylvia has raised a little over $600 with donations coming from students, staff and parents. Sylvia's mother, Lisa, said a classmate brought in a piggybank that contained $57.14. The student put the $57 into the jar, and hung onto the 14 cents. Sylvia has found a $50 bill in the jar along with change from preschoolers.
She has become her own PR firm, doing morning announcements over the PA system, and tacking up signs and posters.
"She has a caring heart," Lisa said, telling of how Sylvia wanted so very badly to help her dad, Brian, when he went to her great-grandmother's flood-ravaged house in Cedar Rapids back in 2008. Sylvia has "put her money where her mouth is" by donating her own allowance, just like many of her classmates have.
Once Sylvia's fund drive ends on Feb. 19, and the Red Cross in Cedar Rapids has the money, she'll continue her next project: growing out her hair so that it may be donated to "Locks of Love," an organization which makes wigs for cancer patients.
The astute 7-year-old explained that the Red Cross will use the money to "help give medicine, water, and food" to the people of Haiti.
Across town, another caring heart regrets that she couldn't do more to help with the Haitian situation.
Sally Shaw, a resident of the Solon Nursing and Care Center (SNCC), was in the hospital when the earthquake hit, but saw coverage on TV and heard about it on the radio.
"By the second day, a bunch of us started batting ideas around," Sally said. A retired medical technician, Sally had already spent a good chunk of her life collecting for the United Way and the American Heart Association.
She was about to undertake her most challenging fund drive yet.
Sally came up with the idea of taking up a collection at the care center. Some were excited at the prospect, and others said they thought she was crazy. However, Melissa Reed, SNCC administrator, gave Sally's effort the green light.
"The next day, I went out on my journey," Sally said. With a large vase for a donation jar, she self-propelled herself up and down the hallways of the nursing home in her wheelchair.
"I got $30 the first night and $50 the next," she said. "By the third day, I was getting tired!"
Her efforts netted around $170.
"We're just pleased people helped," said Sally, pointing out that most care center residents don't keep much money on-hand, but when their families visit, some have been making contributions. Sally reserved special praise for the SNCC staff, who have donated to the cause as well.
On Feb. 2 Activities Director Molly Cart took Sally to the Grant Wood Chapter of the American Red Cross in Cedar Rapids, where she handed over the money.
"It wasn't enough, but it's something," she said. "It made me feel good when I was done" Donations that came in after the Red Cross trip will go to the United Way, which has food packs to feed a needy Haitian child for up to a month.
Between the generations of elementary school children and seasoned citizens are the churches of Solon.
St. Mary's Catholic Church held a special collection recently for the Haitians, whereby all cash in the weekly collection was sent to the Diocese in Davenport for transfer to Haiti. Closer to home, the church sends the first collection of the month to the Crisis Center in Iowa City.
The tragedy hit a little harder at the Solon United Methodist Church, where the congregation mourns the loss of two leaders of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, or UMCOR, who were killed in the quake.
Pastor Scott Meador said the church's youth group has spearheaded fundraising efforts. While a second collection has been taken each week since the disaster specifically for Haiti, the youth have also put donation buckets around town in area businesses.
Youth Director Kelly Meyer said last week that the group has "blasted our Haiti relief $2000 goal out of the water already. I think we can double it"
While people want to go and help, Meador said, they realize that praying and collecting money are the practical options. In the near future, the church hopes to begin putting together relief kits for the Haitians as they continue to struggle to put their lives back together.
To donate directly to the Red Cross, go to www.RedCross.org and click on "donate now," or call 1-800-RED CROSS or 1-800-HELP NOW.
For information on the Solon United Methodist Church's relief efforts, call 624-2288.
To contribute to Sylvia's fund drive, contact Lakeview Elementary at 624-3401. |
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