Horry’s Chain of Caring

Wednesday’s editorials praise the inspirational good works of local young people.

Caring for Kindergarteners, in its eighth year, is a three-way winner. A Coastal Carolina University football player or coach visits a kindergarten class and reads a story; the children in the class draw a picture and sign a card for an elderly homebound person in Horry County. The card will be delivered May 1 as part of the United Way of Horry County’s “Make Someone’s May Day” program.

“It really shows a chain of caring,” says Julie Kopnicky, marketing and communications coordinator for the United Way. “The students love to have a big football player come to their classroom. The players, wearing their football uniforms, read “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. Coach David Bennett says “people say thanks to us, but we say thank you to them because it teaches our young men that other people are more important than we are.”

The United Way provides the story for players or coaches to read and cards for the kindergarteners to complete.

“Seniors are ecstatic over receiving the cards,” Kopnicky said.

Caring for Kindergarteners started in 2003, and on Friday 118 classes in 21 Horry County Schools heard “The Giving Tree.” Last May, 1,000 bags of personal items were delivered.

The hope is that the program “will encourage even the youngest in our community to recognize that they can make a difference in the lives of others,” Kopnicky said.

Dolphins Raise $1,832 for Haiti

Rylee Jones, a fourth grade student at Union Elementary School in Shallotte, N.C., wanted the school to do something to help the relief effort in Haiti following the massive earthquake in January. Rylee sent an e-mail to Union principal Vicki Smith and they decided to have a “Hip Hop for Haiti.’’ The result was $1,832.31 presented to the Cape Fear Chapter of the American Red Cross from the Union Dolphins. The dance was open to everyone, without an admission, but Smith encouraged her 698 students in 32 classes to bring “pennies or pocket change.’’ The students, kindergarten through 5th grade, danced in the gym during the resource time of each class. “We had a good time,’’ Smith says. “One sweet story’’ was the second grader who brought in $8 she received from her report card. The teacher asked if her parents knew she was bringing the $8 and she said they did, and it was OK, she wanted it to go to people in Haiti.

Brunswick County Red Cross coordinator Richard Rismiller of Ocean Isle Beach had the pleasure of receiving the check the other day in an informal presentation at Union Elementary School. “It was a most unusual effort,” Rismiller says. “Everyone was extremely proud of Rylee and the children at Union Elementary School for their selfless efforts to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.” He notes that some $850 of the money was in change. “They emptied their piggy banks. It’s tremendous.”

Union Elementary kids have shown that caring for others can begin at an early age. Their parents, teachers and the Shallotte community surely are proud. Certainly their principal is, saying “school is more than academics.”

“It really shows a chain of caring,” says Julie Kopnicky, marketing and communications coordinator for the United Way. “The students love to have a big football player come to their classroom. The players, wearing their football uniforms, read “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. Coach David Bennett says “people say thanks to us, but we say thank you to them because it teaches our young men that other people are more important than we are.”

The United Way provides the story for players or coaches to read and cards for the kindergarteners to complete.

“Seniors are ecstatic over receiving the cards,” Kopnicky said.

Caring for Kindergarteners started in 2003, and on Friday 118 classes in 21 Horry County Schools heard “The Giving Tree.” Last May, 1,000 bags of personal items were delivered.

The hope is that the program “will encourage even the youngest in our community to recognize that they can make a difference in the lives of others,” Kopnicky said.

Dolphins Raise $1,832 for Haiti

Rylee Jones, a fourth grade student at Union Elementary School in Shallotte, N.C., wanted the school to do something to help the relief effort in Haiti following the massive earthquake in January. Rylee sent an e-mail to Union principal Vicki Smith and they decided to have a “Hip Hop for Haiti.’’ The result was $1,832.31 presented to the Cape Fear Chapter of the American Red Cross from the Union Dolphins. The dance was open to everyone, without an admission, but Smith encouraged her 698 students in 32 classes to bring “pennies or pocket change.’’ The students, kindergarten through 5th grade, danced in the gym during the resource time of each class. “We had a good time,’’ Smith says. “One sweet story’’ was the second grader who brought in $8 she received from her report card. The teacher asked if her parents knew she was bringing the $8 and she said they did, and it was OK, she wanted it to go to people in Haiti.

Brunswick County Red Cross coordinator Richard Rismiller of Ocean Isle Beach had the pleasure of receiving the check the other day in an informal presentation at Union Elementary School. “It was a most unusual effort,” Rismiller says. “Everyone was extremely proud of Rylee and the children at Union Elementary School for their selfless efforts to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.” He notes that some $850 of the money was in change. “They emptied their piggy banks. It’s tremendous.”

Union Elementary kids have shown that caring for others can begin at an early age. Their parents, teachers and the Shallotte community surely are proud. Certainly their principal is, saying “school is more than academics.”