HANCOCK COUNTY — Two vehicles filled with over 1,400 different cleaning items along with new pillows, blankets, shower curtains, batteries and more backed into the Hancock Hope House parking lot for delivery of the new items.
“Look at my little elves,” Teresa Brooks, a Hope House Shelter support member, said. “This — it just warms my heart to see this type of giving during the holiday season.”
Four students from New Palestine High School (NPHS), along with one of their teachers, Mitch Burk, dropped off hundreds of new items earlier this week to finish up a school “Giving Trees” project, spearheaded by seniors Sydney Oliver and Audra Bloomer.
“It was really cool to be a part of all this because I’ve never been a part of something so big where you’re helping other people so much,” Oliver said. “We’re really pleased with how the project turned out as we ended up getting way more than we expected.”
Their project, which the whole Southern Hancock Community School Corporation took part in, was part of NPHS teacher Jeremy Large’s Serving Learning Class where students get credit for learning about how to best serve their community.
Burk, who also coordinates the NPHS Annual Class Cup Challenge, where each class earns points for good deeds, helped the two NPHS seniors out with the community “Giving Trees” project. He and the students made sure there were “Giving Trees” set up at five Southern Hancock schools and two businesses around the town of New Palestine. The different locations helped the girls more than double last year’s donations.
“Last year we brought about 600 items, and this year we’ve got over 1,400,” said Burk, who was dressed in a Santa Claus coat said.
Burk noted as he and the students unloaded the items from inside the two vehicles into large red bins to be brought into the Hope House at 35 E. Pierson Street, Greenfield, he and school officials were proud of the two girls who were in charge of the project. He also stated their helpers, other students in the Service Learning class and throughout the district, were fantastic when it came to thinking about giving to others.
“The students who do this project every year really take ownership with getting it coordinated and expanding it and communicating,” Burk said. “We’re equally proud of the Southern Hancock community where we had so many parents get in contact with us to see exactly what the shelter and retail store needed.”
Karen Newell is the program coordinator at the Hancock Hope House and said the Southern Hancock school district is one of their biggest supporters. The nonprofit supports up to 40 people at the shelter at any given time as well as supplies the retail store where residents and others in the community can come in a shop for gently used or new items.
“This is such a big deal for us,” Newell said. “Quite a bit of what we do here at the Hope House runs off of donations, including giving all of our residents essential hygiene items when they come here.”
Something as simple as providing a family with a bottle of laundry soap goes a long way at the Hope House, Newell said. She noted while the need is large all year long, things become particularly tough for the residents at the Hope House and for those who shop in the thrift store during the holidays.
“Any home, not just people struggling with homelessness, can be strapped having to worry about by expensive laundry detergent,” Newell said. “We know that and we’re here to help.”
Those who work and volunteer at the Hope House say they have a great relationship with officials in the Southern Hancock school district who are more than happy to take the time and help the Hope House reach their donation goals.
“This is not the first time that school district has done things for us, and we’re so very grateful,” Newell said. “I look at these kids as someday being our future supporters and maybe evening volunteering to work here some day.”
Officials with the Hope House gave those in charge of the “Giving Trees” project a list of the items the Hope House will take in and noted, anyone who wants to donate can find a list of things they need on the Hope House social media site pages.
In the meantime, Burk and fellow educators at NPHS are already thinking about how the district can help serve the whole county community next year and have plans to grow the project beyond giving donations just to the Hope House.
“Next year, we plan to still do the “Giving Trees” but maybe let each different school pick one nonprofit or county place they’d like to help, like the soup kitchen or the animal shelter,” Burk said.
Burk has also thought about trying to coordinate a giving contest with other county school districts during the holidays as he knows they all participate in giving during the Christmas season as well.
“That’s what we like about this project is we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel but maybe refocus that giving spirit we know this county has,” Burk said.
