Florida class reaches out to local hurricane relief organization
Kathy Reeg, president of the Katrina Foundation for Recovery, flips through Christmas cards that were sent by a second grade class from Central Florida Prep in Gotha, Fla.
By Rindy Swafford
rindy@rustonleader.com
A package sent by a second grade class in Gotha, Fla., to the Katrina Foundation for Recovery just before Christmas drew tears to the eyes of the foundation’s president, Kathy Reeg,
Enclosed were four hand-made Christmas cards and a check for $21.28.
"It was just so precious," Reeg said. "Just to think that these children were thinking at Christmas time of someone else, not just themselves. I'm sure all of them had heard of the disaster for all of these months, and this was just a precious way for each of them to express that. It really was very, very heartwarming."
Reeg said the meaning of this act by the second grade class is something she has tried to instill in her own children.
"When we raise our children today, that's what we want to raise them thinking, that it's not just about you," Reeg said. "There are people all over the world who are suffering, who have needs ... for me that's one thing that I've tried to instill in my own children who are adults, to be selfless."
She said she hopes others will want to get involved after learning what the children have done.
"Stop the world a second with your life and the busyness of it, and start to think about others," Reeg said.
Reeg said she plans to send blue bands that the organization has been selling across the nation to the children in Florida.
Robin DeLuca, the teacher of the second grade class from Florida Central Prep, said the class raised the money as part of a charity project they held during the month of Ramadan.
She said the class set up jars where they collected their spare change.
“A lot of them wanted to give (the money) to an animal shelter,” DeLuca said. “Then I happened to watch a show called “Studio 60,” and it was the Christmas episode where they had musicians from New Orleans. They were showing the backdrop of New Orleans.”
She said the next day she told the class about it, and they decided to split the money between an animal shelter and the foundation, which DeLuca found on the Internet.
DeLuca said the children knew about what happened in New Orleans and were excited to make a contribution and help build the city back up.
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