Local 5th graders raise over $600 for charity

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- A group of local middle schoolers is going above and beyond answering the call to help others.

A group of fifth grade students at West Muskingum Middle School worked together along with their teacher and parents to raise over $600 to donate to charity.

“It’s our yearly project for 5th grade ELA (English Language Arts). We do it every year and this year is ‘Helping Children Near and Far’,” said Brody Howard, a fifth grad student. “We read books and search countries and get information about what they need. And then we just make a whole bunch of crafts and stuff and we raise money.”

The students worked together to make different crafts to sell to raise the money to donate.

“Some of those trees you can see right there they are cinnamon sticks and fabric. The jars are fabric. You can put candles in them or Buckeye’s,” said Jake Anton, another fifth grader involved with the project. “And then these dresses right here those go to one of the projects that we’re doing. One of the things that we can donate money to it’s called ‘Dress A Girl’.”

The students picked out several organizations to donate to such as Habitat for Humanity, Room to Read, and Compassion.

“We chose a couple of them. There’s one, ‘She’s the First’. We help girls get in schools to get their first education. We helped one called ‘Water for Sudan’; helps people in Africa get clean water. And another one for example, was this ‘Dress A Girl’ here too,” said Anton.

The students are proud of the work they’ve done and said it makes them feel good to know they’re able to help others in need.

“We get so much and some kids don’t have any of the stuff we do. Like fresh water, good food, different clothes, and we want to well give to them because our parents and everyone gives stuff to us so we need to give back to them,” said Howard.

The students are also working on other projects including a book drive. Once they’re done collecting books they will donate them to Genesis Hospital.

(The other students pictured from left to right: Halle Peck, Olivia Drabik, and Kadie Bare.)