Students look out for children in need

Jefferson Elementary fifth-graders went hunting Wednesday — in search of bargains.
The students went on a shopping spree to aid the local Adopt-A-Child effort, purchasing clothes, toys and other gifts for six children.
The spree consumed much of the $353 the students collected in recent weeks for Adopt-A-Child, said Lana Burney, whose students participated in the shopping. Julie Strickler is the other fifth grade teacher at Jefferson.
Some students raided their piggy banks. Others did odd jobs, such as earning a stipend for assisting Strickler around the classroom after school.
“We wanted to make this personal for the students,” Burney said. “We encouraged them to use their own money, not their parents’.”
The recipients — all were anonymous — ranged in age from preschool to school-aged children.
The students targeted “need” items first, such as socks, shoes or other clothing items, before bee-lining to the toy section, enthusiastically trying out a number of gadgets and gizmos.
All the while, the students kept tabs of their purchases to determine which items offered the biggest bang for the buck.
A package of socks at nearly $6 was deemed better than those costing less than $5 because of the size and number of socks inside, one group decided.
Another group, meanwhile, sorted through shirts.
“What I want you to do is find a shirt you wouldn’t mind wearing,” directed Sue O’Connor, one of the adult volunteers accompanying the students.
Math skills were a must as the students closely monitored the overall costs of their purchases. Some items were put back onto shelves when they pushed the price over their allotted $55 target for each group.
“The kids had fun with it, and they did a great job,” Burney said.
Donors have until Monday to turn in their items for Adopt-A-Child so organizers can begin wrapping the gifts before they are distributed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 13.
Organizers Cheryl Sparks and Barbie Daugharthy said each of the more than 250 children who applied for help this year will receive gifts.
“We had to use up most of our funds to get gifts for the kids who didn’t get adopted,” Daugharthy said. “We will need monetary donations to have funds we can use next year.”