Kids have 'Hearts for Hope'
By Kathi Keys
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
ASHEBORO - Middle-schoolers sit at desks, conversing after school while
working on a project to benefit youngsters thousands of miles away.
The North Asheboro Middle School students are contributing their time
for "Hearts for Hope" by making heart-shaped pillows for children
who survived the tragic Dec. 26 tsunami in the Indian Ocean region.
More than 40 students have already taken part in the project which was
the idea of eighth-grade teacher Julia Bynum.
As she sat in church, shortly after the tsunami, her pastor talked about
hope and she wondered what could be done to help young survivors. Bynum
came up with the idea of making the heart pillows and received the support
of NAMS Principal Ron Coley.
She showed students slides of the devastation caused by the tsunami and
told them about the "kids without parents and the need to hang on to
some hope.
"I feel this is a way the kids can give something of themselves
to these children who have lost all hope in this time of sadness and grief,"
Bynum explains in the flier distributed at NAMS about the project.
She put out an appeal for colorful material, muslin, thread and stuffing.
A local manufacturer, Deep River Fabricators of Franklinville, has donated
material and stuffing for the pillows and agreed to pay all shipping charges.
Bynum said they will work with the American Red Cross to make the pillows
available to young tsunami survivors, possibly in the hardest hit areas
of Indonesia or Sri Lanka.
Wal-Mart donated $25 worth of materials, including needles; Bynum bought
the thread.
Students began working on "Hearts for Hope" for one-hour periods
after school earlier this month.
They work in assembly line fashion on several different tasks assigned
for that day while seated in circles of desks, like sewing circles.
On a recent afternoon, one group was tracing the heart shapes onto strips
of the colorful material. Another group was cutting out the hearts. And
two groups of students were sewing the heart-shaped material and muslin
pieces together, leaving an opening for the stuffing.
The previous day sixth- through eighth-graders spent the time stuffing
60-70 pillows.
On another day, time was devoted to stenciling the letters "H-O-P-E"
and other designs like hearts and butterflies onto the pillows.
Some students make their own heart-shaped designs on the muslin. And
a few students, unable to stay after school, take the material home to work
on it there. Other students, because of afterschool activities like wrestling,
came in during teacher workdays to help.
Several eighth-graders who worked on the pillows one recent afternoon
talked about what "Hearts for Hope" means to them.
"It's cool to know you're helping. It's fun to do and it's worth
it," said Alleson Morris. "It's something that will brighten up
their lives."
Mark Haywood said his participation was his way of "helping a little
bit. ... Maybe one day I'll have a chance to meet someone who says, 'I got
your pillow.' "
Alejandra Gotierrez said, "This is a way you can help someone."
And Cesar Jaimes said, "I feel sorry for all the kids who have nothing.
This is all I can do."
The female and male students helping out are culturally diverse and,
in some cases, learning for the first time how to thread a needle and sew.
"They've been so good working together," Bynum said about the
project of heart-shaped pillows which now fill clothes baskets in her classroom.
"We have 115 to 120 done with a million more to go.
"I feel this is a way the kids can give something of themselves
to these children who have lost all hope in this time of sadness and grief."
* * *
Anyone interested in further information about the project can contact
Julia Bynum at North Asheboro Middle School, 672-1900.
Copyright 2002, Stephens Media Group
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