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Community Service Projects
Children have a natural desire to help others. Each year, children at Stepping Stones participate in community service efforts that benefit local, national, or worldwide causes. The school curriculum and philosophy encourage respect for self, other people and other cultures, the community, and the world. Undertaking service projects helps give the children a sense of understanding of others in different circumstances, which, in turn, fosters respect.
Below is a sampling of community service projects in which we have engaged in recent years.
Reading to raise money for a local non-profit. Students raised $1309 for The Children’s Center in Augusta, ME as part of a read-a-thon, in which they gathered sponsors for any out-of-school reading completed during one month. Even the youngest preschool students at the school participated, by getting sponsor money for books read to them. The Children’s Center operates as a non-profit organization providing services for special needs children.
Participating in the Heifer International “READ to FEED” program. “READ to FEED” is a creative reading incentive program that allows children to discover that they have the power to change to world. The children are encouraged to read books for pleasure, while raising money by collecting pledges for books they read. Stepping Stones children raised a collective $720 for the Heifer Project, which uses the funds to help buy livestock for struggling families around the world. Global education lessons were incorporated each week with the children.
Making music at a Veterans’ Hospital ceremony. Thirteen of our elementary students participated in an annual Four Chaplains Ceremony held at the chapel at the Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta. This ceremony, held each February, honors 4 chaplains who made sacrifices for other sailors/soldiers on board the Dorchester in 1943 and lost their lives when the ship was attacked during WWII. Four of our students played “The Star Spangled Banner” on violin to begin the ceremony, and the whole group of students led the congregation in song to end the ceremony with “America (My Country, ‘T’is of Thee).”
Participating in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Tricycle-A-Thon. Children in the Primary classroom collected sponsors for the Tricycle-a-thon, which was held on a short indoor course through the school. Children learned about bicycle safety through materials provided by St. Jude, and they discussed with their teacher where the money raised would go. The children raised $752.00 to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, located in Memphis, TN.
Donating hair to “Locks of Love.” Three students and a teacher donated something more personal than money—their hair. These individuals each had 10 inches trimmed from their hair, which was then donated to “Locks of Love,” a “non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.” The organization is based in Florida.
Collecting pennies for a good cause. A school-wide penny drive was held to benefit Camp Sunshine, located on Sebago Lake in Maine. Camp Sunshine “provides respite, support, joy and hope to children with life-threatening illnesses and their immediate families.” For several years, Stepping Stones partnered with a “trucker buddy”, who participates in a trucker’s convoy each year to raise money for Camp Sunshine. The Stepping Stones penny drive contributed $114 to her total. Elementary students at the school created banners to decorate the lead truck in the trucker’s convoy.
Holding a food drive for a local soup kitchen. The Upper Elementary children made signs to hang throughout the school and set up collection bins. Through their efforts, they collected two large boxes of food items, which they delivered to a local soup kitchen.
Collecting mittens/hats/socks for the Bread of Life Ministries Homeless Shelter in Augusta, ME.
Collecting new toys at holiday time for the Toys for Tots Program (toys for needy families in Maine).
Passing a collection jar for cash to donate to a local family facing large medical bills after their daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. |
