Maya Meade, second grader at Wyoming Area Catholic, places her lion on the ark.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Kendall Morris, an eighth-grade student at Wyoming Area Catholic, places a zebra on the act of kindness ark. The school is participating in a fundraiser that will benefit The Commission of Economic Opportunity.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Giovanna Elbattah, a fourth-grader, gets down low to find a spot to place his animal on the ark.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Michaela Welby, representing her fourth-grade class, finds a spot for her animal on the ark.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
EXETER – Wyoming Area Catholic (WAC) students are taking part in a fundraiser to aid the ARK Charity Fund of The Luzerne Foundation project through the end of the school year.
The ARK (acts of random kindness) project showcases the power of collective giving.
Rabbi Yossi Schulman, CEO and president of Unite the World, contacted Diocese of Scranton to see if the diocese would take part in a pilot program to raise money by the students to be given to a charity of the school’s choice.
“Rabbi went to the diocese to see if one of our schools could participate in the program,” Eileen Rishcoff, principal of WAC, said. “The Diocese chose us. The program is all about teaching kids to be kind.”
Each child received a small plastic bank in the shape of an ark where students collect money for the week and every Monday, students would drop off their collection.
WAC chose The Commission of Economic Opportunity (CEO) as their designated charity. The charitable giving is facilitated through The Luzerne Foundation. Money is collected and counted each Monday and as of April 26, the students raised over $1,600. One hundred percent of the money goes to the charity of choice.
The CEO is a community action agency created to alleviate poverty with their offices located in Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Hazleton, and Tunkhannock.
“The original thought was to do a one-time giving, but I decided to do it over several weeks,” Rishcoff said. “The whole idea is keeping the thought of kindness in the forefront. Doing this project over several weeks has a better chance of reinforcing the idea.”
Kendall Morris, an eighth-grader at WAC, is one of the participants in the ARK fundraising.
“Even though we have a lot less projects we can do (at school), it was a lot of fun building the ark, it was so much fun in helping the community,” Morris said. “It doesn’t matter how we feel, it’s how we’re helping others and how they feel. It’s a real big project and my class has had so much fun.”
Morris feels the act of random kindness goes a long way that will last through her entire lifetime.
Second-grade student Maya Meade said she feels happy about the project.
“It teaches me to be kind and to help people like my baby sister Maria,” Meade said. “I help her brush her teeth and play with her.”
Rishcoff said a final presentation of money would be donated at some time in June with an outdoor ceremony.
