Service Project Ideas

Over the years our schools have participated in a number of Armenia service projects, such as packing and sending scarves and mittens, craft supply boxes, toys and stuffed animals, first aid kits school bags via the Diocesan Women's Guilds' School Bag Project. Looking for other or additional service projects your students might relate to? Here are two you might consider:

Operation Toy Box donates Kid Kits to American Red Cross Chapters. Each Kid Kit is a gallon-sized Ziploc bag filled with craft items and a toy or stuffed animal. These are distributed to kids who have experienced a disaster (such as flood, fire, or tornado) and are temporarily homeless. Your students can donate individual supplies such as safety scissors, half-sheets of construction paper, 8-pack crayons, stickers, glue sticks, a fun pad of paper or small coloring book, and small toys that will fit into the gallon bag.

If you can sew, you can also make fabric Craft Bags for the children.  For project instructions click to: www.operationtoybox.org/how2help.htm.

Send your filled plastic or cloth bags to operation Toy Box, Inc., 114 White's Lane, Louisburg, NC 27549. Include the names of children who donated so Operation Toy Box can send a thank you note directly to each child. If you have questions, call (919) 554-1410.

Children to Children has delivered more than 10,000 backpacks to foster kids. Each bag has a stuffed animal attached to it. Elementary school student Mackenzie Snyder launched the charity when she discovered that many foster kids who move to new homes carry their belongings in plastic garbage bags. Contact your local social service agency to coordinate the details. Have kids attach a note to each bag (Mackenzie's idea: "God told me you could use a backpack and a cuddly friend. So I send this with love to you."). Duffel bags without stuffed animals but perhaps with a small paperback book are also appropriate.