While processing their feelings about the still burning wildfires in January, a group of first grade students decided they needed to do more than just talk about the problems prompting the young students to develop a class fundraiser that culminated with a class visit and check presentation to the Red Cross last week.
The students in Laura Meshel’s second grade class at Grant Elementary decided they were “better together” during their discussions and they took that phrase as the theme of their project. The group began making beaded bracelets that they then sold.
“We were sitting down and we talked about that what we felt bad about are the homes that got (burned) down, that we were scared … so we wanted to make, raise, money, and we decided to make bracelets, and we sell them here and at JAMS,” said student Aaliyah Eure.
Meshel said that as a project based learning school, the opportunity to work on a fundraiser was something that fits with the school's natural philosophy. When the students decided they wanted to make bracelets, she was able to integrate the beading with science, social studies and math.
“This is one of our projects, and it was a very authentic, organic project. It came up out of nowhere,” she said. “There was no planning about this. It just happened. And I followed the children, and they're amazing children.”
The students said they were motivated to help as best they could.
“We just did a big beading unit, and we made bracelets, then we sold them raising money for the Red Cross,” said student Knox Jeffers. “It was just about helping people that lost their homes and stuff.”
The students raised about $1,500 from the sale of their $5 bracelets. Each bracelet was made from beads and came with a word of the buyer’s choice.
“It was really fun, because we got to use our creativity to help people and make the world better and safer and more fun,” said student Luke Sarley.
Student Bella Mistry also enjoyed working on the project.
“I liked knowing that we're helping people recover from the fires, and knowing that we're making a difference in the community,” she said.
The students said they chose the Red Cross as the beneficiary of their work as the organization was leading recovery efforts at the time of their initial discussion.
Representatives from the organization came to the classroom last week to accept the funds and talk to students about their work.
Sean Inoue, Executive Director of the American Red Cross, Western Los Angeles told the class about his personal experience and motivations while thanking them for their donations. He was joined by Red Cross Board member Lindsay Call (who also oversees emergency operations for the City of Santa Monica) and Mimi Teller, Development Communications Manager for the Red Cross.
“My favorite part of the job is working in the community. I direct a lot of traffic. What I mean by that is I make a lot of plans, and I set up a lot of systems, and I help deliver things. A lot of the times, my favorite work, some of the most important work, is work like this, which is working with our community to understand what you do and why that's so important,” said Inoue.
Call said the support of residents, young or old, helps them stay the course when times are tough.
“The last two months have been really hard, right? We've put a lot of work into helping the immediate wildfire response and then trying to help folks with their recovery through lost homes. But what you guys are doing, that keeps us going. So you guys working together and helping your community is what really encourages Sean and I to do the work that we do. And you're an inspiration,” she said.
Teller said the organization works with youth communities year-round through fundraisers, blood drive, and preparedness programs—empowering the next generation of humanitarian leaders. She said the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region has over 2,000 youth volunteers who develop leadership skills and support the Red Cross mission and their Youth Corps Program provides local leadership roles, with 40 youth executive officers organizing activities across five territories.
“Every donation, big or small, helps us deliver disaster relief, lifesaving blood and emergency preparedness,” she said. “At the American Red Cross, our mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies can only happen with the power of volunteers and the generosity of all donors.”
Anyone interested in organizing a fundraiser can visit redcross.org/la to get started.
editor@smdp.com
