Community Corner

Osborne Elementary's 'Room Full of Heart' Makes Holiday Wishes Come True

In total, Osborne Elementary School pupils donate 600 items and $800 in gift cards to make the holidays a little brighter for others.

Little elves at At Osborne Elementary spent weeks collecting donations and gifts to serve Osborne families who are in need this year. Pupils filled up the “Room Full of Heart” with gifts that will reach the recipients in time for the holidays.

Martha Smith, district spokeswoman, said teachers Alisha Fahlgren and Lisa Sarnowski organized the collection as well as a system to involve all the classes.

The purpose was to show each pupil who participated that he or she “may only be one child, but altogether they can make a difference,” Fahlgren said.

Letters were sent home to all families to ask if they had a need or could help fill a need. Confidential replies were collected and gift lists were organized matching needs with donations. Each classroom collected the gifts and twice per week delivered them to the “.”

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For each gift collected, each class was given a paper “link,” which was made
into a chain to symbolize the of all the pupils that made a difference to the community.

A slideshow of the project, the gifts and the finished chain were featured Friday during the annual school sing-a-long.

In all, 600 gifts were donated plus $800 in gift cards.

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“We are so proud of the philanthropic efforts of our students and staff; there is great value in learning the importance of giving,” said Assistant Superintendent Heidi Ondek.

To watch a video about the project, click here.

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Other notable efforts this holiday season included the “Wear a Hat for Cancer” event im whih Edgeworth Elementary students during the week of Dec. 5 donned hats of all styles to raise nearly $1,000 for the division of Pediatric Hematoloy/Oncology and Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Members of
the student council led the effort under the direction of school counselor Jess Geis-Freisinger and nurse Kathy Hinzman.

That same week, the middle school student council to the Center For Hope in Ambridge after a pre-Thanksgiving food drive.

Students in Jason ’s class at the high school took orders and created their popular decorated Hershey candy bars. Some of the candy bars dressed as snowmen, penguins or reindeer were in the Leetsdale high rise.  Students visit Animal Friends in January to deliver the profits from their sales and some extra affection to the orphaned pets.

On Dec. 11, Quaker Valley senior Sarah Scalercio donated her time taking photos and continuing a fundraising tradition she started in 2009, when her personal
project founded the first event, which at the time raised enough money to fund a sophisticated robot that helps teach children about fire safety. Her project ended that year but her holiday elf-like dedication to raising funds for the fire department continued. She spearheaded , which included photos with Santa, crafts, auction items and refreshments.

To learn more about the project's visit Quaker Valley's website.


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